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LM AND TV
TECHNICIAN

Association of Cinematograph, Television and allied Technicians

PRICE 6d.

FILM & TV TECHNICIAN

January 1957

• NO NEED TO LOOK TWICE . . .

. ... once is sufficient to see the noticeable improvement in all films when masked printed

by Colour Film Services Limited— Britain's biggest 16 mm Kodachrome laboratory.

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January 1957

FILM & TV TECHNICIAN

41BIARY.

In view of the film legislation now before Parliament we print in plB*©^ of our usual editorial
an article which has special bearing on the steps needed to protect British Films

WHY WE NEED A QUOTA ACT

THIS month and next will see
both Houses of Parliament once
again discussing the film industry,
and in particular the renewal for
another ten years of what is called
the Quota Act.

Why do we need a Quota Act to
protect British Films?

Surely, you may say, we have
been making films long enough in
Britain not to need Parliamentary
permission to do so.

Let us look back a few years — to
1927 in fact, when the first Quota
Act was introduced. At that time
hardly any British films were being
made at all. Hollywood had so
captured the British cinema mar-
ket during and following World
War One that British films had
practically disappeared from the
scene.

A few brave souls kicked up
such a fuss by public meetings and
petitions to M.P.s that eventually
Parliament was forced to take
steps to ensure that some British
films were made and marketed.

This was done by imposing an
obligation on all importers of
foreign films to make a certain
number of British films (Renters'
Quota), and a similar obligation on
all cinemas to show a definite
percentage of British films on their
screens (Exhibitors' Quota).

" Quota Quickies "

The Act succeeded in its main
purpose. Films were made. Slowly
the industry revived under the
protection that had been given. It
was also, of course, the era of the
ill-famed "Quota Quickie" — a term
of opprobrium used to describe a
type of cheap film made solely to
satisfy legal requirements. Such
films were often put on the
Renter's shelf immediately they
were completed; others were in-
flicted on the public who rightly
resented such inferior entertain-
ment and gained the impression
that if it was British it was no
good. That suited the Hollywood
book very well.

However, the Quota Quickie was
largely eliminated ten years later
when Parliament passed an amen-
ded Act which imposed a minimum

Ralph Bond

labour cost on all films ranking
for British Quota. Although cost
can never be the arbiter of taste
and quality. Renters who had to
expend a reasonable amount of
money soon found that it was
better business in the long run to
make good films.

During World War Two, British
films, after a shaky start, really
came into their own, and roused
the admiration of the whole world.
Any lingering resentment on the
part of cinema goers towards the
home product rapidly disappeared,
and for the first time our films
took more money in our own
cinemas than many Hollywood
epics.

Wave of Optimism

When the War ended, there was
a wave of optimism for the future
of British films, and in 1947 when
the Quota Act once again came
before Parliament for renewal,
Renters' Quota was dropped, and
the Act was confined to the obliga-
tion of the exhibitors to screen a
percentage of British films.

Many who then supported the
dropping of Renters' Quota have
since questioned the wisdom of
doing so, and in a further article
we shall examine the arguments
for and against this.

The fact has to be faced, how-
ever, that after all these years
since 1927, Hollywood films still
dominate our cinemas to the extent
of seventy per cent. Without the
protection of the Quota Act, it is
most likely that the number of
British films produced each year
would rapidly decline.

That is why the film legislation
now before Parliament is so vital
to every one of us who wants to
see an expanding film industry.

It looks as if the Government is
trying to rush its legislation
through Parliament without ade-
quate opportunity for amendment,
and many amendments are
urgently needed to ensure that the
Act works better for British films
during the next ten years.

Why on British Films?

For instance, the conditions
governing the definition of what is
a British film need tightening up,
to avoid a number of abuses which
we all know have occurred recently,
when films made abroad with
scarcely any United Kingdom tech-
nicians have nevertheless obtained
their " British " Quota certificate.

There is also the more funda-
mental point which A.C.T.T. has
raised. Why should the Quota be
on British films. Surely it would
be more logical to have a quota on
foreign films, thus giving our own
industry a chance to climb out of
its semi-colonial status.

So please, in your own interest,
watch things very carefully and
be prepared to see or write to your
own M.P. and get him to support
the changes that the film Trade
Unions want.

Your own job may be at stake.

FILM & TV TECHNICIAN

Editor:
MARTIN CHISHOLM

Editorial Office:
2 Soho Square, W.l

Telephone: GERrard 8506

Advertisement Office:

5 and 6 Red Lion Sq., W.C.I

Telephone: HOLborn 4972

FILM & TV TECHNICIAN

January 1957

A Technician's Notebook

MIRROR SCREEN FROM POLAND

\ POLISH engineer, Jan Anto-
^*- siewicz, has evolved what
appears to be a novel solution to
the problem of projecting films in
a normally lit room.

The conventional matt white
screen scatters light in all direc-
tions through an angle of 180°,
which, though it enables spectators
to view the picture on the screen
from even the most acute angles,
is wasteful of light diffusing it in
all directions beyond the range of
the audience.

To make the picture visible on
such a screen either the auditorium
must be darkened, or the screen
recessed.

In his search for a solution
Antosiewicz turned to the ordinary
mirror which reflects light at the
angle at which it strikes the mirror
and without diffusing it. The plane
mirror is obviously unsuitable for
using as a cinema screen so it was
the convex mirror that Antosiewicz
used as the basis of his screen —
millions of minute convex mirrors,
each mirror measuring 0.54mm. by
0.18mm., their rectangular shape
ensuring the diffusion of light from
them to the occupied space of the
auditorium, but excluding the ceil-
ing or the floor. It is claimed that
the coefficient of brightness of the
picture on the mirror screen is
between twenty and thirty by com-
parison with the white screen.

The article from which the
material above was taken, and
which was kindly placed at our
disposal by the Polish Cultural
Institute, goes on to say that to
prevent the reflection of any other
surrounding objects in the screen,
Antosiewicz used a " counter-
screen ", a black cloth spread be-
fore the screen at such an angle
to the screen as to be visible from
anywhere in the auditorium as a
uniform black sheet. This prob-
ably means, though the article
does not make it clear, that the
screen would have to be first of all
set at a height and angle which
would ensure that the audience
itself does not produce reflections
in it.

The tiny reflectors are mass
produced in pressed aluminium,

from a die which consists of
several thousand " negatives " of
reflectors, arranged at regular in-
tervals. The aluminium plates,
impressed with the convex reflec-
tors, are then glued on to a large

A. E. JEAKINS

sheet to make a screen of the
required size.

" From a practical standpoint
the electronic recording of motion
pictures is an accomplished fact "
says Frederick Foster in an
article in the American Cinema-
tographer. He points out that no
development relating to motion
picture production has aroused
greater interest than that which
has to do with the electronic re-
cording of the picture image.
Though Bing Crosby Enterprises,
followed by R.C.A., announced
developments of such systems
several years ago, no practical
equipment has been put on the
market by either company.

In May Ampex, a manufacturer
of magnetic recording equipment,
demonstrated their Videotape re-
corder, a complete record and
playback unit capable of recording
and reproducing commercial mono-
chrome TV material. The machine
was designed specifically for the
purpose of television programme
delay, and Ampex have said that
it will be first employed for this
purpose only.

Addressing the convention of the
SMPTE in New York and referring
to speculations about the use of
Videotape equipment for producing
motion pictures, R. H. Snyder of
Ampex said, " Any speculation on
the replacement of the 35mm.
camera by Videotape is, in our
belief, foolish at this time." He
thought that a director might
shoot simultaneously on film and
tape, using the tape as an imme-

diate pictorial playback. Videotape
picture quality was not comparable
with ordinarily good original film
and not even remotely comparable
with the newer large negative
processes.

The Ampex system records both
picture and sound on a single two-
inch wide tape. Picture quality is
.'aid to be considerably better than
that obtained with current kine-
scope techniques.

The recorder works on the same
principles as are used in a stan-
dard sound tape recorder. But to
obtain the 4-megacycle response
needed for picture recording the
tape speed would have to be 2,000
inches a second; at that speed a
reel of tape 14 inches in diameter
would run for only 29 seconds.

Ampex have developed a system
which works at a tape speed of
15 inches per second, by using a
magnetic head assembly of 4 heads
mounted on a drum which rotates
at a high speed recording trans-
versely across the tape instead of
longitudinally. This gives an effec-
tive tape speed sufficient to record
and reproduce the 4-megacycle
band width.

The sound is recorded normally
along one edge of the magnetic
tape.

Thrillarama is the latest devel-
opment of wide screen procedure.
According to limited information
available at this time the salient
facts are :

The photographic system, using
two cameras side by side with an
interlocking device, registers scenes
on separate 35mm. negatives,
using full aperture on both. Later
the two films are synchronised for
showing on a theatre screen at a
ratio of approximately 31. to one.
It is claimed that both close-ups
and long shots are photographed
without distortion in presentation.
Sound track is on a separate reel.

The cameras were made in
France, but the photographic
system was designed, engineered
and built by Raphael G. Wolff
Studios in Hollywood.

January 1957

FILM & TV TECHNICIAN

In shooting, the left camera
photographs the right side of the
action, and the right camera photo-
graphs the left side. In projection,
the reels are cross-beamed on to
the screen.

May and Baker announce the in-
troduction of a new 2 J oz. pack of
' AMFIX ', the ultra-rapid liquid
fixer. Intended for those who may
require a small expendable con-
tainer, the new pack is made of
plastic and is similar in appearance
to the sachets used for certain
brands of shampoo. Price of the
21 oz. " Empak " of ' Amfix ' is
l/3d.

From the Fountain Press we
have received Numbers 11 and 12
in the Cinefacts series; they are
" Tricks with Movies ", by Denys
Davis, and " Processing Amateur
Movies ", by R. H. Bomback. They
are practical and clearly written
little books aimed at the amateur,
and selling for the very modest
price these days of half-a-crown
each. " Tricks with Movies " des-
cribes in a straightforward way,
with diagrams, how the amateur
can produce the trick effects that
lie within the scope of his appara-
tus; e.g., fades and dissolves, slow
and speeded-up motion, animation,
superimposition, making and using
a simple matte box, etc. The pro-
fessional also might pick up an
idea or two. Did you know that
four spoonfuls of Epsom salts
mixed with half a glass of beer
and painted on the windows of
your room will give you a realistic
hoar frost effect?

The purpose of " Processing
Amateur Movies ", as the author
points out, is firstly to explain the
mechanism of both negative and
reversal processing, and, secondly,
to show how the amateur may,
with suitable equipment, undertake
such simple operations as title
development and after treatment
of finished films. It does NOT en-
courage the amateur to set up his
own processing laboratory. The
photographic illustrations are good,
and all the main processing
formulae are given at the end of
the book.

INDEX FOR 1956

The index for the Cine Techni-
cian for 1956 will be published as
a supplement to the February
issue.

Book Review

PORTRAIT OF MONGOLIA

" LAND OF BLUE SKY ", by Ivor
Montagu. (Dobson, 25/-).

On Wednesday Ivor Montagu
will be at an Executive Committee
or General Council meeting, the
next he may well be the other side
of the world bent upon one of his
many specialities from peace to
table-tennis. So no great surprise
was caused by his announcement
that he was off to spend a holiday
in the Gobi Desert. But as lazing
is not Ivor's idea of a holiday, he
finished up with material for
" Land of Blue Sky ", a portrait
of modern Mongolia.

Those acquainted with Ivor's
style will find this book true to
form. Just as in a written report
of, say, a Conference he has
attended, nothing either important
or trivial is omitted. He bursts
with information, filling in the
extras with copious parentheses,
footnotes and appendices, resulting
in his inimitable style — compre-
hensive, meaty, apparently shape-
less but supremely intriguing. You
feel that not a single word which
could be said remains unsaid.

I read " Land of Blue Sky "
during the height of the Hungarian
revolt and the first thought which
occurred to me was, whether one
calls Mongolia a dependency or ally
of the Soviet Union — a current
argument within the United
Nations — the two countries have
managed their affairs with each
other in a way which could well

be a model elsewhere. There are
no Soviet troops in Mongolia, the
only Russians there are experts
filling special needs, such as
doctors. The relationship, econo-
mic and otherwise, is based on a
practical basis and, as a result, a
proud independent people as the
Mongols are, have a mutually
satisfactory and friendly modus
vivendi with their big Russian
neighbours.

But " Land of Blue Sky " is as
much a travel book as anything
else. Few Western visitors have
been to Mongolia and indeed Ivor's
wife is only the second English
woman visitor ever. For me, per-
haps because I was more in the
mood for bright hospital reading,
the appeal of the book was its
fascinating portrayal of the
Mongols and their country from
thirty-five years ago, when they
were a million-strong nomad race
roaming over 600,000 square miles,
up to today, when in a most rapid
transformation they have de-
veloped into a country attuned to
and helping create the benefits, if
that is the right word, of modern
industrial progress.

I am sure that most readers of
" Land of Blue Sky " will wish on
putting the book down that an
opportunity would present itself to
visit Mongolia to learn more about
this exotic land and its hospitable
people. If that be so, the book can
need no better recommendation.

G.H.E.

A.C.T. Films 9 New Production

Following the completion of
Suspended Alibi for J.A.R.F.I.D.,
A.C.T. Films has gone into pro-
duction with another subject for
British Lion.

This time it is a comedy titled
Second Fiddle, and it went on the
floor at Shepperton on January
14th, with Bob Dunbar producing
and Maurice Elvey directing.

The stars are Adrienne Corri,
Thorley Walters and Lisa Gastoni.
Arthur Graham is lighting, with

Howard Connell as Production
Manager.

Second Fiddle is an original
story, set in an advertising office,
and raises, among other things, the
right of married women to work
and receive equal pay !

GET YOUR NEW BADGE

The new A.C.T.T. badges and
brooches can be obtained from
Head Office. Badges 2/-, brooches
2/4, post free.

FILM & TV TECHNICIAN

January 1957

IS IT OUR BUSINESS ?

This article expresses the personal
opinion of the writer, which differs
considi rably from the standpoint
officially taken on the subject by
A.C.T.T. We print it because we
h,liin that Film and TV Techni-
cian should be a forum for con-
troversy as well as a vehicle for
conveying official news and views.
The Editor will be glad to hear
what readers think about this con-
1 1 m ( rsial subject.

A recent A.C.T.T. press state-
ment on the I.T.A. Government
grant, in which the quality of pro-
grammes was criticised, has led to
the impression in some quarters
that A.C.T.T. was accusing the
commercial TV companies of pro-
ducing worthless and trivial pro-
grammes. This has stirred up con-
siderable controversy, both as to
the correctness of the implied
criticism and as to whether even
if it were true it was expedient for
the Union to express it.

At the TV Producer-Directors'
Section meeting on December 21st
this subject was given a rather
warm airing. Opinions seemed to
be divided as to just how trivial
the programmes were and how
far the B.B.C. had sunk in com-
petitive pursuit of the mass
audience.

Comparative estimates of the
cultural value of Jungh Jim as
against Ask Pickles, or the relative
value of Fabian of the Yard and
Dragnet are entertaining but
rarely instructive. One point of
view which so far does not seem
to have been expressed — and one
that in the writer's estimation
could be considered — is that such
matters might be said to be out-
side the province of trade unionism.

It is widely held that a Trad.'
Union exists for one purpose only
— to ensure fair working conditions
for its members. Should these con-
ditions be affected by the actual
work produced then it is un-
doubtedly right for the union to
consider this "end product". But
not otherwise. The union acting
for the makers of those hideous
plaster doggies would scarcely
venture to criticise them from an

artistic point of view. If the plastei
is difficult or dangerous to work,
that is another matter. But surely
the individual trade unionist
should restrict his artistic judg-

■By

Vivian Milroy

ment to refusing to buy the
doggies once they are made?

And surely the same rule should
apply in the entertainment busi-
ness. Take those popular weekly
panel shows " Do you trust your
kids " and " Take your pick of
your wife's money ". If the work
of the technicians involved is
more dangerous than Panorama or
more arduous than The Brains
Trust no one would deny the
Union's right to express an official
opinion. But can it really do so if
the working conditions are more or
less the same — or at anv rate are

unaffected by the artistic content
of the programme? A camera-
man's job on The Tempest is not
fundamentally different from his
colleagues on Noddy. In fact, from
a trade union point of view a bad
programme employing a lot of
technicians is better than a good
programme employing only a few.

To suggest that it is not part of
a trade union's province to criticise
the artistic standard of its mem-
bers' output is not to say that the
individual members should not do
so. We are all citizens as well as
trade unionists; viewers as well as
technicians. And if the standard
of some programmes is thought to
be inclining slightly towards a new
low of footling and futile inanity
the weapons of a free democracy
are there for the using. He can
write to the newspapers and in-
flame public opinion; he can per-
suade his M.P. to raise the matter
in Parliament; he can bombard the
guilty organisation with letters;
and he can even — if he gives
twenty-four hours' notice to the
Metropolitan Police — march an
army of like-thinking democrats
from Golden Square to Kingsway
by way of Wardour Street waving
insulting banners and shouting
rude words. But if after all this
he is offered a job on that same
" Take your pick of your wife's
money ", as a good trade unionist
no one will blame him for accept-
ing it or even for liking it. It is
strange how differently it can
appear from the inside.

THOSE IN FAVOUR

The laboratories nia.ss meeting, reported in our last issue,
VOtea for the new agreement

I Picture bj Chi istophei

January 1957

FILM & TV TECHNICIAN

seems to consist of a large ruby
and several tatters of silk. Con-
cerning the suitability of this Mr.
Irving Allen is reputed to have
said : " What nature has given,
who are Warwick to take away?"
A random survey taken in War-
dour Street shows a majority
opinion for Miss Ekberg in the
House of Lords and Lord Lucas
in films.

inth Bar oo Marx
as Sir Isaac New-
ton . . .

FOR our Basic and Countryman
Shop the struggle for more in-
telligent, higher quality films is
unending, but their battle against
" monster movie " mentality must
have suffered an early reverse in
1957, judging by a recent an-
nouncement from Warner Brothers.

At their Hollywood Studios
Warners are
making The Story
of Mankind. To
prove that ambi-
tion, at least, is
not dead, the
period covered in
this epic ranges
from the Neoli-
thic Age to the
present day. Its
cast includes
Ronald Colman as
The Spirit of Man,
Edward Everett
Horton as Sir
Walter Raleigh
and, to crown it
all, Harpo Marx
as Sir Isaac New-
ton. Peter Lorre
and Cesar Romero
are also cast but no parts men-
tioned. An imagination fevered by
the foregoing details suggests
Gilbert and Sullivan.

Wolves ?

A statement with which many
members will sympathise comes
from Miss Barbara Woolworth,
one of the fabulous Woolworth
family, in an interview with Daily
Express critic David Lewin. Miss
Woolworth, head of the company
which made Silken Affair, said :
" I know there are a lot of dragons,
or wolves as you call them, around
in the film business. But I think
I can handle them."

Communist Inspired?

Says Mr. Mike Todd, producer
of Round the World in Eighty
Days, of his film's distribution :
" I will ban the sale of popcorn
... it will be the first non-popcorn
picture in America. I have nothing
against popcorn — I am not un-

American about popcorn. It just
isn't a popcorn picture."

Location Tip

There's always a tough battle to
raise the location allowance from
the basic five guineas. It's prob-
ably an occupational reflex of
many producers to cross their
hearts and swear that this sum
will more than cover members'
expenses in this or that country.

In this connection an intriguing
comment comes from a hotel guide
given to me by a member recently
back from a West Indies location.
The document describes the shuffle-
board, aquaplane and water-skiing
facilities and has a somewhat
vague reference to the Social
Hostess who will be glad to make
your holiday pleasant and enjoy-
able.

For those at work and on a
location allowance the most telling
item is " Tips on Tipping ". The
suggestions range from 15s. per
week for the bedroom maid to 35s.
for the waiters. One and ninepence
per bag is the appropriate for bell-
men. For the
rest — "A small
token tip is al-
ways acceptable "
to the Head
Waiter and Cap-
tains. At this
level it seems un-
likely that any
roughnecks could
sneak through the
gilded doors, but
a severe note is
struck to avoid " smaU token
this eventuality.
" On Thursday and Saturday even-
ings formal dress is requested for
dinner. Men's jackets and ties
must be worn after 6 p.m."

Ekberg or Bust?

Warwick Films have been earn-
ing themselves some free and,
presumably, welcome publicity in
the House of Lords. Protesting at
the advertising posters used for
Zarak, Lord Lucas referred par-
ticularly to a tantalising portrait of
Miss Ekberg, in which her costume

By Wire . . .

Here is some news from Holly-
wood that may interest our far-
from-overpaid members in Nas-
creno House. National Screen Ser-
vice is an associate of a company
of the same name in the U.S.A.,
and negotiations for a two year
agreement have just been com-
pleted over there. The new agree-
ment gives an additional $1,560 per
year to the lowest paid, and $1,040
to those on the maximum. The
lowest-paid scriptwriters get $330
a week, the highest $350 — or
roughly £125 per week. It is worth
noting that quite a few technicians
working for N.S.S. here don't even
get the rate equivalent to the
raise given to the lowest-paid in
the U.S. True, straight exchange
values don't tell the full story — but
it looks to me as if National Screen
coffers could be opened on this
side of the Atlantic as well.

fpc^

RAIN WAS GOOD
FOR TRADE

Cinema attendances during the
third quarter of 1956 totalled 293
million, nearly 2 per cent above the
corresponding quarter of 1955, and
gross takings were 11 per cent up
at £28,576,000, the Board of Trade
announced recently.

"The bad weather in the summer
no doubt contributed to this in-
crease, which reversed the down-
ward trend of attendances for the
first time since the similarly poor
weather of summer 1954," the
report says.

Of the 47 cinemas closed during
the third quarter most had between
251 and 750 seats. Nearly all
regions were affected, the north-
western region most of all.

FILM & TV TECHNICIAN

January 1957

FILM MAKING IN CHINA

I WENT to China together with
Lennox Robinson, the Irish play-
wright, as the guest of the Actors
and Actresses Association and the
Writers' Association, to speak at
the Bernard Shaw Centenary cele-
brations at Peking and Shanghai.
Inevitably we saw a good deal of
the theatre and I was also afforded
the opportunity of visiting all their
film studios, watching them at
work and meeting most of their
artists and directors.

Only Three Studios

There are at the moment only
three film studios in all China. Of
these the biggest is at Chiang-
chun, about seven hundred miles to
the north-east of Peking, in the
heart of what used to be Man-
churia, but is now called the North
East Province. Here, tucked under
the wing of Soviet Russia, are all
the major industries — coal mining,
iron and steel foundries, one auto-

are on the payroll all the year
round as employees and are given
two weeks holiday with pay every
year and a pension scheme which

Entrance to Studio
Chiang-chun

mobile factory turning out their
first tractors. 1 have read in the
press here that these factories
have been placed here so close to
Russia for security and protection.
But this is nonsense, for the coal
and iron are found in this part of
the country, and the Japanese had
already laid the foundations of
these industries, including films,
before the present government
took over.

The second largest film studio is
at Shanghai, and the third at
Peking. At each one of these three
there is a stock repertory com-
pany of actors and actresses who

R. J. Minney

provides for their retirement. They
are given accommodation near the
studio in blocks of buildings where
they have either a small flat for

Lighting in Peking
Studio

themselves and their families or
just a room to live in. I have
visited a number of these homes
and found them most comfortable,
if a little restricted.

There are excellent reading
rooms in a central block, as well
as facilities for table tennis and
other indoor games. In the grounds
there is basket ball, a current
craze with the Chinese, swimming
in some cases, and other forms of
open-air sport. At every studio
there are nurseries for children,
rest houses for the artists, and
sanatoria. Their health and welfare
are well looked after.

The studio at Chiang-chun is a
large modern block, very Western
in its style of architecture, un-
relieved here by a Chinese super-
structure, with turned up ends,
placed cither at the corners of th<
building or above the central en-
trance, such as they have on most

of their other modern buildings,
whether Government offices or fac-
tories.

There are six stages here, one
of them fairly large, but only
about a third the size of the big
stage at MGM at Elstree; the
other five are of medium size,
approximating to the old Stage
Three at Gainsborough Studio at
Lime Grove, where so many of us
worked before they were taken
over for television.

They use papier mache a great
deal. It seems to take the place of
plaster. The walls are papier-
mached, with struts of bamboo at
the back for strengthening and
support; all the decorations, coats
of arms, statuettes, crowns and
coronets are made of it, and most
cleverly painted. They are in con-
sequence very light and easy to
move about.

Old Mitchells

All the cameras are old Mitchells.
some of them tied up with bits of
string. We went through that our-
selves during the war and our
films were none the worse for it.
Here, too, they seem to make-do ex-
tremely efficiently. All the gantne.-
are made of wooden scaffolding,
with wooden steps and galleries.
The dolly rails are of wood too.
The cameras appeared to move
smoothly, but I noticed that they
had to be most carefully manipula-
ted. A further complication was
that the studio floor was very
uneven and the rails had to be laid
with pads here and there to get
them straight.

The atmosphere behind the
scenes was exactly as here. They
allocated approximately the same
number of technicians for camera,
sound, etc. as are required I
for crews, and I discovered that :n
the higher grades the technicians
are far better paid than the actors
and actresses.

Wages

When we come to wages we
must remember that the standard
of living is a great deal lower in
China than it Is here. The average
minimum earnings in that countrv.

January 1957

FILM & TV TECHNICIAN

taking industry as a whole, and in-
cluding the earnings of the agri-
cultural workers, is about £2 a
week. They manage to live pretty
well on it, for prices are not high.
The cost of living is, in fact, ex-
ceedingly low. The consumer goods
I saw in the shops cost far less
than they do over here. A pair of
cotton trousers, for example, is
only fifteen shillings for the best,
and the rent for a one-roomed flat,
with a small kitchen and lavatory,
is only nine pence a week.

At the studios the bottom wage
for artists was £2. 10s. a week. The
top grade performers get £7 to £8

a week. The technicians start
higher and rise higher.

There are no stars at all. The
star system is not operated there.
Before I learned of this, when I
asked who the stars were, they
looked at me in wonder. They had
no idea what I was talking about.
They asked me to explain. I men-
tioned Marilyn Monrose, but there
was not the slightest show of
recognition from the group of
directors and technicians around
me.

" Who is Marilyn Monroe?"

In a moment I got the question
that you would only expect to get
from a judge in the law courts in
England. " Who is Marilyn Mon-
roe?" one of them asked. Now
you who haven't been asked it
might think it is the easiest thing
in the world to answer. But try
answering it to a group of Chinese
film men through an interpreter,
without even a photograph of the
girl to help you! Not that the

picture would have helped much.
Their standards are different and
the shapes are different. Busts, for
instance, are out. I suppose I
should say bust are in — well in, for
the dresses reveal no cleavage and
the chests are dressed as flat as
they can be. The girls look none
the less attractive for that.

No Comparative Standards

The Chinese now have no com-
parative standards in films, either
technically or otherwise, for they
don't get very much from the
West. Hamlet was the last British
film they got and they will still in
raptures over it when they talked
to me. They were expecting to get
shortly Great Expectations, and
were looking forward eagerly to
seeing it. "Can't you get your people
to send us more films?" they asked.
" We would welcome it." I passed
this on to the Rank Organisation
on my return and I hope something
comes of it. Other film companies
should also take note.

Their sets are very realistic. One
film I saw being made was set in
a coal mine. It was as good as any
we have built on the set here.
Their backcloths I thought not
quite as good as ours. But their

and others for musical films — for
as long as twelve years.

At Chiang-chun the resident
repertory company of film actors
and actresses numbered 143 mem-
bers. Occasionally, especially when
they are making the film version
of a stage play, they borrow one
or two of the stage cast; but for
the most part they prefer to rely
on their own resources because, in
the case of this studio particularly,
the theatre in Peking is many hun-
dreds of miles away.

The Shanghai studio, on the
other hand, relies on the theatre
not only for players but for its
directors. They flit from one to
the other. It is quite common there
for a stage director when he moves
to the studio to take many of his
stage artists with him.

Much Longer to Make

At Chiang-chun all the stages
were being used for feature films,
each running, as ours, for approxi-
mately ninety minutes. But the
films take much longer than ours
to make. I was told that the aver-
age time for making a feature film
is from six to eight months, for
studio shooting alone. They are
aware that this is inordinately long

standard of acting is very high.
It ought to be. Attached to every
studio is a school for acting. The
pupils begin young and are kept at
it for years, some of them — as in
the case of Peking opera trainees

and are trying to cut down on
time. " We are making twelve
films this year, which will give us
an average of six months a piece

(Continued on page 10)

FILM & TV TECHNICIAN

January 1957

on the six stages. We are aiming
to double this and eventually to
step the figure up to thirty films
a year— before very long," they
told me.

tures, running time about ten
minutes. I saw some of these.
They were, in the main, comedies
based on traditional stories.

In Shanghai the studio has six

ys*^

chiefly screen presentations of the
traditional Peking operas. It is
these operas that are usually done
in full colour and very good the
colour is too, for they use Agfa
colour, which is obtained from the
Soviet Union.

Attached to each of these studios
there are training schools for tech-
nicians, a big scenario department,
a panel of script readers, and
groups of welfare workers to keep
a close and watchful eye on work-
ing conditions.

Plans were ready while I was in
China for the building of five fur-
ther studios — at Canton, Chung-
king, Kunming, Sian and Urumchi.
Two of these will be in operation
this year. The Chinese are very
fond of films. There are large,
modern, well-equipped cinemas in
all the towns with swarms of
people going in all the time. The
finished product from these studios
is good; in many instances I found
the standard very high. With the
great fillip being given to film pro-
duction it would not surprise me
if the Chinese film industry cap-
tured before long the entire film
market in Asia.

They have two theatres at
Chiang-chun. Both were being
used for dubbing when I was there.
They dub about eighty imported
films each year. Most of these are
from Czechoslovakia and Poland.
Only a handful come in from
France and Italy, and occasionally
there is one from Japan, for the
restriction that keeps the Ameri-
cans from sending in their films
applies apparently to some extent
to Japanese films too.

Four Small Stages

The Peking studio, which has only
four small stages, does not take
quite as long to make films. The
average time there is much nearer
our own and approximates to
about thirteen weeks for a feature
length picture. The working hours
here, as at the other studios, is
from 8 a.m. to 12 noon, then two
hours off, and from 2 o'clock until
five — a seven-hour day. On Satur-
days they finish at four and work
only six hours, making a total of
forty-one hours per week, for Sun-
day is a holiday. There are two
additional studios in Peking — one
for Newsreels and the other for
Documentaries. At the latter they
make their comedy cartoon pic-

stages, as at Chiang-chun, but the
stages are somewhat smaller. Both
here and in Peking they have made
films in colour, but at their chief
studio they were only just pre-
paring to make their first colour
film.

Their feature films are of two
types — straight dramas or come-
dies (and the Chinese have a rich
sense of humour, very akin to our
own)- and musicals, which are

COVER STILL

The cover still and pictures on
pages 9 and 10 are shots from a
film being made during R. J.
Minnev's visit to China.

January 1957

FILM & TV TECHNICIAN

RIVALS OR ALLIES?

T^HROUGH my letter-box at this
*- time of year comes an abun-
dance of brochures advertising
wonderful holidays in foreign
countries, and I love to spend
hours studying them, because
foreign travel has always inter-
ested me. Just recently, though,
I received some brochures about
some foreign film industries and
these have held me fascinated in
much the same way. They came
from Japan and Italy.

Two arrived from Japan, and
they make interesting contrasts,
because the larger, glossier one is
from the Motion Picture Associa-
tion of Japan, which represents
five of the six major film com-
panies, and the smaller one — dup-
licated on cheap paper — was sent
out by one of the smaller indepen-
dent producers, Dokuritsu Eiga
Company.

Americanization

A while ago I reported that the
Japanese colour processes were
being pushed out of their own
home market by the American
Eastmancolour process. Startling
confirmation of this Americanisa-
tion of the Japanese film business
is seen in the films made by the
five major companies in 1956.
From the figures they give, it
appears that these producers make
over 300 features a year, and they
give details of the thirty best ones
of 1956 (which probably includes
all those made in colour). Eleven
of the best features were in East-
mancolour, and one, Madame
Butterfly, an Italian-Japanese co-
production, was made in Techni-
color. Not one was listed in
Fujicolour or Koni-colour, the
Japanese colour processes. The
same is true of the short films
listed in the year's production.

Far more adventurous is the in-
dependent Dokuritsu Co., which
has made its first children's film
in Koni-colour, a six-reeler of the
fairy-tale by Samuel Marshak, the
noted Soviet author, called Twelve
Months, which scored a great hit
on the stage with Tokyo's children.

The big Japanese producers give
an interesting short history of
their country's film industry — since
1897, when the first film was shown
there, to the present day. An in-
teresting aftermath of Fascism is
their mistrust of Government in-

tervention in the film industry;
these sober business men say that
Government control of production
and film censorship prior to 1945
obstructed the growth of the
Japanese industry, and they refer

Christopher Brunei

to the present state of affairs,
under which Government interven-
tion is all but ended, as " the Fifth
Freedom — Freedom of the Screen."

Turning to a booklet from Italy,
" The Situation and the Problems
of Public Entertainments in Italy,"

Twelve Months

published by Lo Spettacolo, I find
the same mistrust of the Govern-
ment taking a hand in the affairs
of the film industry. The writer,
Antonio Ciampi, is very scornful
of a proposal to help film produc-
tion by a Treasury rebate scheme,
which appears to have similarities
with our own most helpful Eady
Scheme. The reason he rejects
State aid is an historical one, too;

under Italian Fascism there were
a number of taxes levied for defi-
nite purposes, such as lighting the
streets, poor relief and for the un-
employed, and these were much
resented by the Italian people.
Therefore, he argues, if Entertain-
ment Tax were used to assist
Italian film production it would be
transforming the tax into one of
the hated, obsolete taxes.

Strange as this may sound to us.
it is a point of view that evidently
arises from the Italians' experien-
ces, and as such ought to be
respected.

Unlike Britain, Italian cinema-
going is on the increase, though
they have their own crisis in pro-
duction. Something that we both
have in common is the difficulty in
conquering foreign markets, par-
ticularly the American. The book-
let was written before the impor-
tant agreement between the Bri-
tish Film Producers' Association
and the Italian Producers was
concluded, and so the system of
especially favourable relations be-
tween two nations is not men-
tioned. Briefly, this is a method
of trading, whereby two countries
agree to grant each other conces-
sions — in the case of Britain and
Italy, Italy grants British films
concessions over the " Dubbing
Tax " and Britain guarantees cir-
cuit bookings to a number of
Italian pictures.

It is a means of gently easing
out the Americans from their
dominant position in both coun-
tries — and, naturally, the Ameri-
cans have protested vigorously
against the deals that the B.F.P.A.
has been making with Italy and
France along these lines.

It seems to me that, while not
imitating the methods such film-
producing countries as Japan and
Italy adopt to help their native
industries, we should learn to
understand their methods to see if
there are ways in which we can
co-operate to our mutual benefit.

NOTE THE DATES

A.G.M.

SATURDAY AND SUNDAY,

MARCH 9th & 10th, 1957

12 FILM & TV TECHNICIAN

General Council in Session

January 1957

ACTION ON FILMS BILL

THE main items considered this
-*- month were the 24th Annual
Report, which will go to all mem-
bers for the annual general meet-
ing on March 9 and 10, 1957, and
the tabling of amendments to re-
solutions that had been submitted
by Shops and Sections.

Owing to the shortage of time
left, only one item of the Execu-
tive's report to the meeting was
considered, namely the endorse-
ment of proposals for increases in
salaries of Head Office staff.

It was, therefore, agreed to give
the Executive authority to proceed
on the basis of its report on all
other matters in the report; some
of the main items covered are
given below.

CINEMATOGRAPH FILMS BILL:

The Executive were advised of the
meeting with representatives of
the Parliamentary Labour Party

Films Committee, and the Acting
General Secretary stated that all
the other Unions responsible for
the Trade Union Policy Pamphlet
had been informed of A.C.T.T.'s
action and a letter had been re-
ceived from the E.T.U. indicating
their agreement with the action
taken and expressing appreciation
at having been kept informed. The
Executive authorised the Legis-
lation Committee to continue the
highest level pressure, utilising all
necessary means which should in-
clude personal contacts with one
or two of the M.P.s who have
always been friendly to A.C.T.T.
in addition to the Films Committee
of the Parliamentary Labour
Party. The Executive to be kept
informed of developments.

CUT RATES BY TV COM-
PANIES: The Shorts Committee
has been very concerned with TV
companies who are undercutting,

so prejudicing reputable units from
getting contracts, and it appeared
that the A.S.F.P. were also in-
terested in this matter. It was
recommended to the Executive:

1. That a letter be sent to the
Advertising Agencies remind-
ing them of our agreement
and of the importance of
maintaining standards of
quality.

2. That we should seek a meet-
ing with the A.S.F.P. with
the following points in mind:

(a) Agencies should be re-
quired to disclose to the
contractor the name of
the production company.

(b) A quota on foreign
material.

{continued on page 1 3)

ANIMATORS

TRACERS

PAINTERS

Excellent Prospects

Please apply by letter to:
Studio Manager

HALAS & BATGHELOR

10a SOHO SQUARE

GERrard 7681-2-3

W. I

FILM & TV TECHNICIAN SUPPLEMENT

January 1957

Guide to British Film Makers

PORT AFRIQUE

Year of Production: 1955.

Studio: M.G.M. Elstree.

Laboratory: Technicolor Ltd.

Producing Company : Coronado Produc-
tions (England) Ltd.

Producer: John R. Sloan.

Stars: Pier Angeli, Phil Carey, Dennis
Price, James Hayter.

Director: Rude Mate.

Camera Department: Lighting Camera-
man, Wilkie Cooper: Camera Opera-
tor, Gus Drisse; 1st Camera Assistant
(Focus), Mike Wilson: Other Camera
Assistant, Mark Hyams; 2nd Camera
Operators, Ian Struthers, Peter All-
work.

Sound Department: Recordist (Mixer).
Sash Fisher: Sound Camera Operator,
Harold Clark: Boom Operator, John
Streeter; Other Assistants (Main-
tenance), Michael Basselt ; Dubbing
Crew, J. B. Smith, W. Carr, C. Jones.
J. Bramall.

Art Department: Art Director, Wilfred
Shingleton ; Assistant Art Director,
John Hoesli: Draughtsman, Kenneth
Tate; Dress Designer, Julia Squire.

Editing Department ; Editor. Ray Poul-
ton; Assembly Cutter and 1st Assis-
tant, Valerie Leslie; Other Assistant.
Peter Keen; Dubbing Editor, Winston
Ryder.

Production Department: Production
Manager and/or Unit Production
Manager, R. L. M. Davidson; 1st
Assistant Director, Gus Agosti; 2nd
Assistant Director, Jeremy Summers;
3rd Assistant Director, Peter Len-
nard; Location Manager, Juanito
Solorzano; Continuity, Angela Allen;
Production Secretary, Sheila Neal.

Stills Department: Still Cameraman.
Eric Gray.

Special Processes: Tom Howard
(Model), E. Bennett. D. Manning.

Publicity Director: Catherine O'Brien.

THE SHIELD OF FAITH

Year of Production : 1955.

Studio: National Studios, Elstree.

Laboratory: Denham Laboratories Ltd.

Producing Company: G.H.W. Produc-
tions Ltd.

Producer: Church and Chapel Films
Ltd. (i/c Production: Jas. B. Sloan).

Stars: Mervyn Johns, Adrienne Corri.
Emrys Jones.

Director: Norman Walker.

Scenarists: Lawrence Barrett from an
original story by J. Arthur Rank and
R. Noel Evans.

Camera Department: Lighting Camera-
man, Lionel Banes: Camera Operator,
Harold Haysom; 1st Camera Assis-
tant (Focus), Derek Whitehurst :
Other Camera Assistant, Ken Claik.

Sound Department: Recordist (Mixer),
Dave Howells; Sound Camera Opera-
tor, Michael Bassett; Boom Opera-
tor. George Paternoster; Dubbing
Crew. Maurice Askew, Bernard
Childs, George Lewis.

Art Department: Art Directors, George
Provis, Cedric Dawe.

Editing Department: Editor. Duncan
Spence: 1st Assistant. Terrv Hine:
Other Assistants. Moira Finney
Dubbing Editor, Duncan Spence.

Production Department: 1st Assistant
Director. Pat Morton: 2nd Assistant
Director, Dave Tomblin; Continuity.
Majorie Round.

Stills Department: Still Cameraman.
Cyril Stanborough.

Music: Henry Reed.

X— THE UNKNOWN

Year of Production: 1956.

Studio: Bray.

Laboratory: Olympic Kine Labs.

Producing Company: Hammer Film
Productions.

Producer: Anthony Hinds.

Stars: Dean Jagger, Edward Chapman.
Leo McKern.

Director: Leslie Norman.

Scenarist: Jimmy Sangster.

Camera Department: Lighting Camera-
man, Gerald Gibbs; Camera Operator,
Len Harris; 1st Camera Assistant
(Focus). Harry Oakes ; Other Camera
Assistant, Michael Rutter; Second
Camera Operator. John Reid.

Sound Department: Recordist (Mixer),
Jock May; Sound Camera Operator,
Michael Sale; Boom Operator, Jim
Perry; Dubbing Crew, Anvil Films.
Beaconsfield; Sound Maintenance,
Charles Bouvet.

Art Department: Art Director, Edward
Marshall; Draughtsman, Don Mingaye.

Editing Department : Editor, James
Needs; 1st Assistant, W. Bouvet;
Dubbing Editor, A. Cox.

Production Department : Production
Manager and/or Unit Production
Manager. Jimmy Sangster; 1st Assis-
tant Director, Chris Sutton; 2nd
Assistant Director, Roy Stevens; 3rd
Assistant Director, Hugh Harlow:
Continuity, June Randall; Production
Secretary, Margaret Quigley.

Stills Department: Still Cameraman,
Tom Edwards.

Special Processes: Trick Work, Bowie
Margutti.

Publicity Director: Bill Batchelor.

THE HIGH TERRACE

Year of Production: 1956.

Studio: Nettlefold, Walton-on-Thames.

Laboratory: Denham Laboratories.

Producing Company: Cipa Productions
Ltd.

Producer: Robert S. Baker.

Production Supervisor: Ronald C.
Liles.

Stars: Dale Robertson, Lois Maxwell.

Director: Henry Cass.

Scenarists: Norman Hudis. Alfred
Shaughnessy.

Camera Department: Lighting Camera-
man, Eric Cross; Camera Operator,
Desmond Davis: 1st Camera Assis-
tant (Focus). Manny Wynn ; Other
Camera Assistant, Ken' Goodman:
Second Camera Operator, Eric
Besche.

Sound Department: Recordist (Mixer),
Fred Ryan; Sound Camera Operator.
Aubrey Lewis: Boom Operator. Bill
Baldwin: Dubbing Crew, Anvil Films
Crew — Beaconsfield; Sound Mainten-
tance, Dennis Arundell.

Art Department : Art Director, Arthur
Lawson; Assistant Art Director and
Draughtsman, Maurice J. Pelling.

Editing Department: Editor. Henry
Richardson: 1st Assistant, Roy
Norman; Dubbing Editor, Henry
Richardson.

Production Department: Production
Manager, Charles Permane; 1st
Assistant Director, Clive Midwinter-
2nd Assistant Director. Ted Sturgis-
Continuity. Barbara Thomas; Pro-
duction Secretary, Elizabeth Carr.

Stills Department: Still Cameraman
Frank Bellingham.

SAILOR BEWARE

Year of Production: 1956.

Studio: Shepperton Studios.

Laboratory: Humphries.

Producing Company: Remus Films
Ltd.

Producer: Jack Clayton.

Stars: Peggy Mount, Cyril Smith,
Ronald Lewis, Shirley Eaton.

Director: Gordon Parry.

Scenarists: Philip King, Falkland L.
Cary.

Camera Department: Lighting Camera-
man, Douglas Slocombe; Camera
Operator, Jeff Seaholme; 1st Camera
Assistant (Focus), Gerald Fisher;
Other Camera Assistants, Ronald
Drinkwater.

Sound Department: Recordist (Mixer).
Peter Handford : Sound Camera
Operator, J. Smart ; Boom Operator,
Bill Cook; Dubbing Crew. R. Jones,
P. Cunningham, B. Hopkins.

Art Department: Art Director, Norman
Arnold; Draughtsman, W. Hutchin-
son.

Editing Department: Supervising

Editor. Ralph Kemplen; Editor, Stan
Hawkes ; 1st Assistant. Alban
Streeter; Other Assistant, John
Kelly.

Productit Department: Production
Manager. Raymond Anzarut ; 1st
Assistant Director, Buddy Booth; 2nd
Assistant Director, David Bracknell;
3rd Assistant Director, Otto Plashkes:
Continuity. Doreen Francis; Produc-
tion Secretary, Doris Prince.

Stills Department: Still Cameraman,
Eric Gray.

Special Processes : T. M. Brian Langley
(Hired from Pinewood Studios).

Publicity Department : Publicity Direc-
tor, Lilanna Wilkie.

THE LAST MAN TO HANG

Year of Production: 1956.

Studio: Nettlefold Studios.

Laboratory: Rank Laboratories.

Producing Company: A.C.T. Films
Ltd.

Producer: John Gossage.

Stars: Tom Conway, Elizabeth Sellars.
Eunice Gayson, Freda Jackson.

Director: Terence Fisher.

Scenarists: Ivor Montagu and Max
Trell.

Camera Department: Lighting Camera-
man, Desmond Dickinson; Camera
Operator, Brian Rhodes ; 1st Camera
Assistant (Focus), D. Lewiston :
Other Camera Assistant, John Shine-
rock.

Sound Department: Recordist (Mixer),
Wally Day; Sound Camera Operator,
Ray Raynham: Boom Operator. D.
Somerset; Dubbing Crew, R.C.A..
Hammersmith: Maintenance. Charles
Earl.

Art Department : Art Director. Allan
Harris: Draughtsman, David Butcher.

Editing Department: Editor, Peter
Taylor: 1st Assistant. Peter Miller;
Other Assistant, R. Love.

Production Department: Production
Manager. Fred Swann; 1st Assistant
Director. Rene Dupont : 2nd Assistant
Director, Charles Hammond; 3rd
Assistant Director. Dennis Hall:
Continuity, Pauline Roberts; Produc-
tion Secretary, Sallv Rich.

Stills Department: Still Cameraman.
Dick Cantouris.

Publicity Department: Publicity Direc-
tor. Horace Beck.

FILM & TV TECHNICIAN SUPPLEMENT

January 1951

BEYOND MOMBASA

i ( in- o) Production: 1956.

Studio: M.G.M. Studios.

Laboratory : Technicolor.

Producing Company: Hemisphere

Films Ltd.

Producer: Adrian D. Worker.

Stars: Cornel Wilde, Donna Reed, Leo
Genn, Ron Randell.

Director George Marshall. (Location
Retakes Ken Hughes).

Scenarists: George Levitt and Richard
English.

Camera Department: Lighting Camera-
man. Freddie Young; Camera Opeia-
tor. John Harris; 1st Camera Assis-
tant (Focus), Peter Allwork; Other
Camera Assistants, W. Byatt, G.
Elliott R. Gibbings; Second Camera
Operator, H. Smith; Second Camera
Lighting, Eric Cross.

Sound Department: Recordist (Mixer),
Charles Knott; Sound Camera
Operator, John Clennell; Boom
Operator, P. Lacy; Other Assistant.
W. Howell (Maintenance); Dubbing
Crew, J. B. Smith, P. T. Jones,
.1. Brammell, W. Carr.

Art Department: Art Director. Elliot
Scott; Assistant Art Director, Scott
McGregor; Draughtsmen, R. Bream,
V Gray, W. H. Wolveridge; Set
Dresser, P. James.

Editina Department: Supervising

Editor, Ernie Walter; Assembly
Cutter, Ted Jeffries; 1st Assistant.
Maureen Lvndon-Haynes; Other
\ sistant, E. Sibley; Dubbing
Editors, Roy Baker, P. Culverwell.

Production Department: Production
Manager and/or Unit Production
Manager, John Workman; 1st Assis-
tant Director. Basil Keyes; 2nd
Assistant Director, D. Twiddey: 3rd
Assistant Director, D. Hall; Con-
tinuity. Angela Allen; Production
Secretary, Jean Clarkson; Casting
I'M., ior. Paul Sheridan.

Stills Department: Still Cameraman,
Arthur Evans.

Spa nil Processes: E. Taylor (Models).

Publicity Department Publicity

Director, Leonard Samson.

Special Effects: i/c T. Howard; T.
Lane, G. Oman (Back Projection i.

A HILL IN KOREA

year o) Production: 1955/56.

Studio: Shepperton.

Laboratory ; Humphries.

Producing Company: Wessex (Finan
rial Set-up: Ian Dalrvmple Advisors
Ltd. I.

Producer: Anthony Squire with Ian
I >alrymple.

Stars George Baker, Stanley Baker,
Harrj Andrews. Michael Medwin.

Direi tor: Julian Aymes.

Scenarists: Ian Dalrymple, Anthony
Squire, Ronald Spi m ei

i amera l>< part mi nt : Lighting Camera
man. Freddie Francis; Camera
Operator, Arthur Ibbetson; 1st
Camera Assistant (Focus). Derek
Browne; other Camera Assistant
i Lonald Anscombe.

Sound Department: Recordist (Mixer),
A. G. Ambler: Sound Camei .. 0]
i"i I »ei i k Tate ; Boom ( >perator,
P Dukelow; Other Assistant. E. Vin-
cent; Dubbing Crew, Red Law, Bob

Jones.
1/' Department: Art Director, Cedrii
Dav \: ■ i. tant Art Director. W.

Hill. Inn ..ii Draught men. F Wilson.

A. M Woolai d . I >ress i Desij
Win dr. .i.e. John McCorry.

irtment: Editor.

Hunt; Assembly Cutter. M. I' rl

1st Assistant. John Poyner; Othei
Assistant. Eric Brown (Dubbing),

Production Department: Production
Manager- and/or Unit Production
Manager. W. Kirby; 1st Assistant
Din. i.. i, Ronald Spencer; 2nd Assis-
tant Director, David Bracknell; :iid
Assistant Director, Peter Parsons;
Continuity, June Randall; Production
Secretary, Ella Wylie.

stills Department : Still Cameraman,
Norman Hargood.

Special Processes: Si < nic Artist, Basil
Mannin; Model Shots, Wally Veevers.

Publicity Department: Publicity Direc-
tor, Joy Raymond.

LOSER TAKES ALL

\<ur of Production: 1955-56.

SI ml n>: British Lion, Shepperton.

Laboratory : Humphi ies.

Producing Company: I.F.P. Limited.

Producer. John Stafford.

Sims: Rossano Brazzi, Glynis Johns,
Robert Morley and Tony Britton.

Director: Ken Annakin.

Sci am ist : G. Green.

Camera Department: Lighting Camera-
man, Georges Perinal; Camera
Operator, Alan Hume; 1st Camera
Assistant (Focus), Godfrey Godar;
Other Camera Assistants, Denis
Lewiston. John Shinerock.

Smtiiil Department: Recordist (Mixer).
Bert Ross; Sound Camera Operator.
W. E. Webb; Boom Operator, Ken
Ritchie; Dubbing Crew, Red Law,
Paddy Cunningham; Sound Main-
tenance; Norman Bolland.

Art Department: Art Director, John
Howell ; Assistant Art Director,
Peter Murton; Draughtsman, R.
Breem ; Dress Designer, Len
Townsend.

Editing Department: Supervising
Editor, Jean Barker; 1st Assistant.
Marcel Durham; Other Assistant.
Martin Crump; Dubbing Editor,
Vernon Messenger.

Production Depart mi nt : Production
Manager, Jack Martin; 1st Assistant
Director, Dennis Bertera; 2nd Assis-
tant Director. John Merriman: 3rd
Assistant Director, John Kerrison;
Continuity, Yvonne Axworthy; Pro-
duction Secretary, Sheila O'bonnel.

stills Department: Still Cameraman.
Raj Hearne.

Special Processes: Matte Shots — Wally
Veevei s.

Publicity Department: Publicity Direc-
tor, Victor Betts.

/ ... nt ion ; Monte Carlo.

Eastman Colour CinemaScope

ONE WISH TOO MANY

1 < i/i <ii Production : 1956.

studio Rotherhithe.

/ nt, m atory . Ka ■■

Producing Company Realist Film Unit

Ltd.
Prodn, i i Ba il Wright.
stars: Gladys Young, Sam Ci

Director: John Durst.

S< . nin is/ .John Eldridge.

Camera Department Lighting Cam.
man, Adi i.in .leakms ; Camera Opt r;
tor, Bill i rxlej . 1st Cam. ra Assis-
tant (Focus), Stanlej Fairhall; Other

Camera Assistant. Charles Hasler.
Junior.
Sound Department Recordi I (Mixer),

'Li i \ Cot tel , Sound Camera ( (p

tor, Ken i ioddard Boom < >perator,
Peri \ Britten; Dubbing Crew, Ken
i 'am. i ..ii and Anvil Films Cr< w.
Art I >i !"ii ■ mi nt Art 1 )ii ei tor, Bei nai d
i ..ii

Di pal tmi nt Editor. Jatnes
Clark i t Assistant, Deveril Good-
nian Othei Assistant, Ernest Xerrl.

Production Depart mi nt : Production
Manager and/or Unit Production
Mana-.i i'h\, Ki . . .1 man lsi Assis-
tant Director, Gordon Murray ; 2nd
Assistant Director, Betty Crowe; 3rd
Assistant Director, George Wilkinson;
Continuity. Gladys Reeve; Production
Secretary, Anne Krish.

Spinal 1 j io,issis Howie and Margutli
(Travelling Matte).

HOME AND AWAY

i i ar of Production . 1956.

studio: British National.

Laboratory: Denham.

Producing Company: J. G. & R. B.
Wainwright Limited.

Producer: George Maynard.

Stars: Jack Warner, Kathleen

Harrison.

Director: Vernon Sewell.

Scenarist: R. F. Delderrield.

Camera Department: Lighting Camera-
man, Basil Ennnott: Camera Opera-
tor, Gerry Turpin; 1st Camera Assis
tant (Focus). Brian West : Other
Camera Assistant. Eric Robinson.

Sound Department: Recordist (Mixer),
Bill Bulkley: Sound Camera Operator,
Peter Matthews; Boom Operator.
Dave Drinkwater; Dubbing Ci • ■•■.

F. Turtle, I-!. Coldwell

Art Department: Art Director. Duncan
Sutherland; Assistant Art Director,
Harry White.

Editing Department : Editor. P. R.
Johnson: 1st Assistant, Olive Magill.

Production Department: Prodm I ion
Manager and/or Unit Production
Manager. "Freddie" Pearson; 1st
Assistant Director, Denis John
2nd Assistant Director, Eric Rattray;
Continuity, Betty Forster; Produc-
tion Secretary, Ann Stansbor.

Stills Department: Still Cameraman.
Laurie Ridley.

Publicity Di part mi nt . Publicity Direi
tor. A. Hibbert Jones.

CIRCUS FRIENDS

Year O) Production : 1956.

studio: Bushey Studios.

Laboratory: Rank Laboratoi

Producing Company: Femina Films

Ltd.
Sci narist : Peter Rol
Director: Gerald
Si i >i,n ists : Peter Rogei S.

Camera Department Lighting Camera-
man, Otto Heller ; Camera Op.i
Gus Drisse; 1st Camera Assistant
(Focus), 1>. nil Fox; Second Camera
Operator. Ian St rut hers.

Sound in /nn I .... iii Recordist (Mixer),
Frank Flvnn: Sound Camera Opera-
tor, Rill Kobson: Hoom Opeiator.
Barry Copland: Dubbing Crew,
R. Jones. P. Cunningli .

Art 1 1< p " ( "" nt \i t I 'ire. i or, Ceorge
Provis.

Kditina Department Editor. Peter
Boita: 1st Assistant. Michael Round.

production Depart nn nt Produi

Manager and or Unit Production

Manager, Al Marcus; 1st Assistant

Directoi Basil Keys; 2nd Assistant
Director, John Meadows Continuity,
jinn Randall; Production Secretary.

Trixie Wilkin.

stills Department: still Cameraman,
i .te Ridlej .

PACIFIC DESTINY

In I he . i i dits l..i this film, pul li
in October 1966. Robert Winter's

should ha\ . i "u. ,

Rdi'

January 1957

FILM & TV TECHNICIAN

KODAK: Our members at Kodak
have recommended that we seek
discussions with the Management
on the following:

1. Three weeks' holiday after
10 years' service.

2. Time and a half for night
work.

3. Premium rates for holiday
periods and sickness for those
on permanent shift work to
endeavour to bring them into
line with the Laboratory
Agreement.

The Executive endorsed this re-
commendation.

CURRENT NEGOTIATIONS: (a)

N.R.A. The Executive had before

it the following proposed formula

for revision of the Cost-of-Living

Bonus Clause in the agreement

between A.C.T.T. and the N.R.A. :

"As from January 1957 for each

rise or fall of one point in the

new published Index the bonus

shall be increased or decreased

by Is. 6d. per week provided

that if the Index rises by more

than eight points the N.R.A.

shall have the right to call a

joint meeting to review the

matter and provided that
irrespective of any fall in the
Index the cost of living bonus
shall not be reduced below the
figure of £2 10s. Od."
This proposed formula was
endorsed.

(b) A.S.F.P. At a joint meet-
ing between representatives of the
A.S.F.P. and A.C.T.T. both sides
agreed to recommend to their
governing bodies acceptance of the
following proposals:

That as from January 1957 the
new Index of Retail Prices be
adopted for calculation of the
cost of living bonus on the
basis of a rise or fall of Is. 6d.
per week for each rise or fall
of one point in the Index in-
stead of Is. a point on the old
Index, together with payment
of the full cost of living bonus
at age 18 instead of 21.

The Executive endorsed the pro-
posal.

(c) B.F.P.A. The Acting
General Secretary reported a letter
from the B.F.P.A. proposing that
the agreed quota for foreign pro-
ducers and directors in the coming

OFFICIAL APPOINTMFNTS

FILM DIRECTOR/CAMERMAN required by GOVT, of WESTERN
REGION of NIGERIA on contract for 12/24 months in first instance.
Salary according to qualifications and experience in scale (including In-
ducement Additions) £1,728 rising to £1,944 a year. Outfit allowance up
to £60. Gratuity at rate £150 a year. Free passages for officer, wife and
three children under age 13. Liberal leave on full salary. Candidates
should have had at least 5 years' experience with a reputable Film Pro-
duction Unit or firm including 16mm. and 35mm. productions in black
and white and colour mediums. They should be able to script for dialogue
and must have had experience of supervising at dubbing sessions. Write
to the Crown Agents, 4 Millbank, London, S.W.I. State age, name in
block letters, full qualifications and experience and quote M3B/43785/CY.

FILM PRODUCTION OFFICER required by NIGERIAN FEDERAL
GOVT. INFORMATION SERVICE on contract for 12/24 months in first
instance. Salary according to experience in scale (including inducement
addition) £954 rising to £1,488 a year. Gratuity at rate £100/£150 a year.
Outfit allowance £60. Free passages for officer and wife. Assistance
towards cost of children's passages and grant up to £150 annually for
their maintenance in U.K. Liberal leave on full salary. Candidates
must be of good education and fully conversant with 16mm. and 35mm.
editing. Write to the Crown Agents, 4 Millbank, London, S.W.I. State
age, name in block letters, full qualifications and experience and quote
M3B/35002/CY.

FILM EDITOR required by GOVERNMENT OF NORTHERN REGION
OF NIGERIA on contract for 12/24 months in first instance. Salary
according to qualifications and experience in Scale (including inducement
addition) £810 rising to £1,716 a year. Gratuity at rate £100/£150 a year.
Clothing allowance £45. Touring Equipment Allowance £40. Free
passages for officer and wife. Assistance towards cost of children's
passages and grant up to £288 annually for their maintenance in U.K.
Liberal leave on full salary. Candidates must have had at least 5 years'
experience with reputable film units and long practical experience of
handling 35mm. and 16mm. film and magnetic tape recordings. Write
to the Crown Agents, 4 Millbank, London, S.W.I. State age, name in
block letters, full qualifications and experience and quote M3B/43721/CY.

year be a total of seven for foreign
producers and seven for foreign
directors based on an estimated
production of 78 films during the
period concerned. The Executive
recommend that the proposed
quota be accepted on the under-
standing that the question be re-
examined after six months, and, if
the total production is less than
anticipated, the quota should be
reduced accordingly.

(d) Associated - Rediffusion:
Feature rates and overtime pay-
ments are now being paid to
A.C.T.T. members employed in the
Film Section at Associated-
Rediffusion following negotiations
with Head Office. In addition to
receiving wage increases, lump
sum payments totalling approxi-
mately £1,050 to cover retrospec-
tive adjustments have been re-
ceived by seventeen of the
members.

RADIANT COLOUR LABORA-
TORIES: Radiant Colour is still
operating and had on January 9
two weeks' work in hand. Shop
Steward, Bro. Norley, informed the
Organiser that normal hours and
rates of pay are being paid, and
that there are now eight members
employed there.

Efforts have been made to assist
those who have been made redun-
dant, but several of the members,
particularly the women, are not
willing to work outside Slough.
One of the members has obtained
employment at another laboratory,
and one is now working at Pine-
wood Studios.

(continued on page 14)

Camera Hire

(1) NEWMAN SINCLAIR— Mirror Shutter.
All Cooke Lenses including Series 2.,
25mm., f.1.7. SINGLE FRAME EXPOSURE
and Electric Motor Drive. (Available fully
adapted for CINEMASCOPE if required.)

(2) NEWMAN SINCLAIR--Mirror Shutter.
Cooke Lenses and 24mm. Angineux Retro-
focus.

(3) NEWMAN SINCLAIR— Model G. All
Cooke Lenses. SINGLE FRAME EXPOSURE
and Electric Motor Drive if required.

Kingston] Tubular and Vinten Light Gyro
Tripods.

LOCATION
CAMERA DOLLYS

Mecal construction, pneumatic tyres, drop-
down jacks, lightweight tracks, etc.

S. W. SAMUELSON

FINchley I 595

FILM & TV TECHNICIAN

January 1957

General Council

(continued)

INDUSTRIAL DEATH BENEFIT:

Paddy Leech represented the
widow of one of our members at
an Insurance Appeal in Taunton.
Mrs. Burchett's husband was killed
in an accident while working for
the Nigerian Colonial Film Unit.
Because of the terms of the Indus-
trial Injuries Act, Mrs. Burchett
is not eligible for benefit. She is
receiving a widow's pension and
also a pension from the Nigerian
Government but this case raises
the question of principle. The
Executive agreed the matter
should be taken up with the appro-
priate department of the T.U.C.,
asking them if they are aware of
the situation and requesting their
views as to what approaches
should be made.

FOREIGN DIRECTORS: Darryl
Zannuck, Robert Rossen and
William Lee Wilder have been
given temporary membership of
the Union.

PROVINCIAL TV MEMBERS
AND A.G.M.: The Executive gave
very careful consideration to the
problem of ensuring that TV mem-
bers in Manchester and Birming-
ham should be given every oppor-
tunity to attend the Annual
General Meeting. After consider-
able discussion it was agreed that
for the forthcoming A.G.M.
A.C.T.T. will arrange transport
with a view to getting provincial
members down to the meeting. It
was also agreed that Head Office
should send out an appeal to
members living in London to pro-
vide accommodation for these
members.

CONFERENCE ON NEW MEM-
BERS: Since the question of new
entrants into A.C.T.T. has been
bothering a number of Depart-
mental Sections in the production
side of the industry, the General
Council called a conference on
December 10, 1956, to consider
Union policy in regard to new
members. Twenty-six members
attended covering representation
from the Sections and from the
Executive. Alf Cooper took the
Chair.

The meeting was reminded of
the powers of the Executive and
General Council under Rule, and,
while Sections' activities were
welcomed, the Executive and
General Council had no option but
to interpret the Rules as approved
by the Registrar of Friendly
Societies.

In discussion the main criticism
appeared to be that, whilst accept-

ing this fact, it was thought that
Sections' recommendations were
not taken seriously enough as
there was adequate proof that in
cases where Sections had been
over-ruled the person being
granted membership against the
Section's advice had proved un-
satisfactory on the job. It was
felt that this only added to unem-
ployment and, on a long-term
policy, brought the Association
into disrepute.

TELEVISION PROGRAMME

CONTRACTORS — NEGOTIA-
TIONS: The Executive had before
it a draft agreement drawn up by
the T.V.P.C.A. as a result of nego-
tiations. After very careful con-
sideration, the Executive agreed
that the draft should be referred
to a small expert committee for
consideration and report back, the
committee to comprise one tele-
vision representative from each of
the major companies together with
one from the B.B.C. It was agreed
that the conference should be an
all-day affair and one of the points
for consideration should be ways
and means of strengthening the
negotiating committee. Five Exe-
cutive members were appointed to
attend.

NON-MANUAL WORKERS' AD-
VISORY COUNCIL: The Acting
General Secretary attended the

Annual Conference of the Non-
Manual Workers' Advisory Council
on December 7, 1956. Eighty-eight
delegates from 36 Trade Unions
representing 1.229,000 Trade
Unionists were in attendance.
George Elvin, our General Secre-
tary, was again elected on the
Executive Committee. The follow-
ing resolution, moved by the Guild
of Insurance Officials through their
General Secretary Henry Levitt,
was opposed from the platform on
the grounds of economics, but was
nevertheless carried almost unani-
mously by the Conference:

"This Conference notes the
widespread lack of knowledge
amongst non-manual workers
of the functions and policy of
the Trades Union Congress, a
position which is often accen-
tuated by misrepresentations
in the press and other organs
of information.

" Conference notes the diffi-
culty presented to individual
unions in combating this situa-
tion and with a view to apply-
ing a remedy on a national
scale, Conference urges the
General Council to consider
the possibility of using tele-
vision, films and other modern
publicity methods to present
authoritative information

about the Trade Union Move-
ment."

THE CROWN THEATRE

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EDITING ROOMS FOR HIRE

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Tel: GERrard 5223 Editing Rooms GERraru 9309

January 1957

FILM & TV TECHNICIAN

Shorts & Documentary
Section

STEVE COX WRITES :

The Old Year went out with the
usual festivities and Unit parties,
and there is one in particular I
would like to mention : the Crown
Film Unit Reunion. This is an
annual "do" for all members who
have been associated with the
Unit, and invitations are sent out
by the organisers. So if any of
you who are ex-members of the
Crown Unit did not get notified
about the last Reunion in Decem-
ber, please send your particulars
to John Legard if you are inter-
ested in future gatherings.

Terry Trench

I understand that Terry Trench,
who, you may remember, went to
Australia to work on the Olympic
Games Film, has decided to stay
in the sun, down-under, to "cut"
another film.

Hard Luck, George!

Recently I mentioned George
Noble and Cyril Sirapoff. George,
as you know, is on leave, and
Cyril is "standing-in" for him and
staying in George's bungalow.
Well, I met George and his brother
Joe, and I enquired if there was
any news from the Gold Coast.
George laughed and said " Oh yes,
I've had a letter from Cyril, and
he informs me that he's had a
burglary and all my shirts have
been stolen." Hard luck, George !
Still, I understand they are in-
sured, so have a grand time on
your leave.

Now for 1957. I sincerely hope it
will be a prosperous one for us all,
and I trust I shall be able to keep
you fully informed of the news.
I should like to thank all those
who have helped with information
during the past twelve months and
I will wind up by saying : my
ambition is to have a full-page
"spread", as we did in the Decem-
ber issue, every month, so please
help me to help you.

WANTED

EDITOLA or similar wanted s/hd.
Essential available inspection Lon-
don area. Details and price to the
Secretary, British Film Institute,
164 Shaftesbury Avenue, W.C.2.

London's latest
dubbing theatre

FILM HOUSE PRODUCTIONS LTD.

announce for hire

a modern and economical recording and dubbing

theatre in central London.

Situated in Wardour Street the facilities available for
use by film production companies include:

A Main Channel recording unit consisting
of an R.C.A. PM 38E for photographic or
magnetic recording. This can be used with
either 4 synchronous photographic and 2
non-synchronous reproducer heads, or 1
magnetic, 3 photographic synchronous and
2 non-synchronous reproducer heads.

Ancillary equipment enabling the Main
Channel to transfer £in. standard tape at 7^
or 15 i.p.s. to 35mm. photographic or mag-
netic film, or vice-versa.

The Main Channel can

be used for the transfer

of 331 45 or 78 RPM

disc recordings to

tape or film.

A Leevers-Rich synchropulse tape which can
be used for synchronous shooting on location.

A 16mm. photographic or magnetic projector
which can be run in synchronisation with the
35mm. equipment. This projector can also
record magnetically independently on 16mm.
film.

all enquiries should be made to:

The Studio Manager,
Film House Productions Ltd.,
Film House,
Wardour Street, W.i.
Telephone: GERrard 6461.

FILM & TV TECHNICIAN

January 1957

Still pictures on ILFORD HP3
and HPS films.

ILFORD LIMITED ' ILFORD ' LONDON Cine Sale-; Department, 104 High Holborn, London, W'.C.l Tel.: HOLborn 3401

Published by the Proprietors, The Association of Cinematograph, Television and allied Technicians, 2 Soho
Square, London, and Printed by Watford Printers Limited, Watford, Herts.

TAKE THAT !

(See page 25)

FILM AND TV
TECHNICIAN

POLICY QUESTIONS FOR THE
A.G.M.

SITUATION AT KODAK

THE CINEMATOGRAPH FILMS
BILL

FEBRUARY

I 957

Association of Cinematograph, Television and allied Technicians

Vol. 23

No. 146

PRICE 6d.

• •' . ■

FILM & TV TECHNICIAN

February 1957

* NO NEED TO LOOK TWICE . . .

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February 1957

FILM & TV TECHNICIAN

Tfcfr K^ittitft of Modecrt Aft

THE ANNUAL GENER ALT MEETING

THE Annual General Meeting,
-*- which will be held at the Beaver
Hall, Garlick Hill, Cannon Street,
E.C.4, on Saturday, 9th March, and
Sunday, 10th March, is the one
great opportunity which every
member of A.C.T.T. has to express
his views on Union policy and to
help in the shaping of that policy
for the ensuing year.

We hope that all members who
can possibly do so will seize that
opportunity and come, ready with
their views and any constructive
criticisms that they may have to
offer so that the incoming General
Council can tackle its task in 1957
with a full knowledge of what is in
our members' minds. In this way
the Union leadership will be enor-
mously strengthened for such
struggles as may lie ahead.

In one direction in particular the
A.G.M. of 1957 is breaking new
ground. For the first time a
special effort is being made to see
that A.C.T.T. shops in the Midlands
shall be adequately represented.
This is a direct outcome of the
growing importance of our Tele-
vision membership and special
arrangements are therefore being
made for transport and accommo-
dation for members who are able
to make the journey from the
Midlands to London.

This year's A.G.M. comes at a
time when the future of the British
film industry is under debate in
Parliament and it is therefore not
surprising that the agenda should
contain a number of resolutions
designed to ensure the healthy
growth of the industry, with a
consequent increase in security for
all trade unionists working in it.
These resolutions include a call
upon the government to revise its
policy toward the cinema in order
to ensure generous and imagina-
tive sponsorship of documentary
films to make known at home and
abroad the problems and achieve-
ments of the British people.
Another resolution calls for the
establishment of a National Film
Unit under a National Film Board.
The establishment of a National
Film Circuit is also called for. The
setting up of a fourth circuit has
for long been part of the policy of
A.C.T.T. and the other unions con-
cerned with the film industry.

Naturally the agenda paper
carries a number of resolutions
dealing with Television. One, in
the name of the General Council,
reaffirms A.C.T.T.'s policy of
lOCr membership in the appro-
priate grades in Television. It
also draws the attention of the
Postmaster General and the T.U.C.

to the fact that the B.B.C. still
refuses to recognise A.C.T.T. in the
Television field and asks for the
wholehearted support of members
in any action that may be deemed
necessary for the establishment of
trade union standards in this field
of work.

In the name of the General
Council, too, there is a composite
resolution dealing with the effects
of Government policy on the living
standards of trade unionists in
general. This motion protests in
strong terms against the increased
charges under the National Health
Service, the increased cost of
transport and the new Rents Bill.
The resolution instructs the incom-
ing General Council to take all
necessary steps to resist any
attempt to reduce living standards
as a means of solving the nation's
economic problems.

What we have outlined above
are some of the more important
items which A.G.M. will have
before it for debate. There are
many others which closely touch
the interests of every member of
the Union. March 9th and 10th
will provide you with the oppor-
tunity of doing your part to see
that those interests are protected.

REMEMBER THOSE DATES.

This is Urgent

A.G.M. PROVINCIAL MEMBERS' REPRESENTATION

Accommodation is still urgently required for provincial Television members attending the
Annual General Meeting. The Executive Committee therefore appeal to all members in the
London area who are in a position to do so to offer such accommodation. Please advise
Head Office without delay, either through your Shop Steward, by telephone to Gerrard 8506,
or alternatively by completing the form below and posting it to Head Office, 2 Soho Square,
London, W.l, staring whether you can accommodate one or more members for the night
of Saturday, 9th March, 1957.

To Association of Cinematograph, Television and allied Technicians,
2 Soho Square, London, W.l.

I can accommodate (number of members) for the night of Saturday,

9th March, 1957.

(NAME)

(ADDRESS)

(Telephone number )

FILM & TV TECHNICIAN

February 1957

Our A.G.M. Guest

STEPHEN SWINGLER, M.P.

IT is said that one of the features
which most impresses the foreign
visitor to this country is question-
time in the House of Commons.
Any visitor there at that time will
almost inevitably see Stephen
Swingler, Labour member for New-
castle-under-Lyne, pressing Cabinet
Ministers on a variety of subjects,
for he is one of the most regular
and persistent of Parliamentary
questioners.

A.C.T.T. knows him through
films, but the film industry is only
one of the many subjects in which
he takes an expert interest.

The usual two guesses for his
interest in films are both wrong.
He was not lobbied by his brother
Humphrey of Green Park Produc-
tions, nor was he approached by
A.C.T.T.

The reason is much simpler.
Woodrow Wyatt — now no longer a
Member of Parliament — and he
were looking at the published quota

returns three or four years ago
and came to the conclusion they

were excessive and that the Board
of Trade were doing little about it.
They therefore tabled a series of

questions which stirred things up
most effectively.

The subsequent successful prose-
cution of defaulters and the decline
in quota defaulters, particularly
among some of the larger cinemas,
are in most people's minds attribut-
able to the campaign started by
Messrs. Wyatt and Swingler and
carried on by Stephen Swingler
after Woodrow Wyatt's General
Election defeat.

It was the start of this cam-
paign which brought A.C.T.T. in
touch with Stephen Swingler and
since then we have had the friend-
liest possible contact. We are there-
fore particularly glad that he has
been able to accept the General
Council's invitation to be the guest
speaker at our 24th Annual Gen-
eral Meeting, and we are sure his
attendance will be added induce-
ment to members to be present on
the second day of the Meeting,
Sunday, 10th March, when he will
be speaking to us.

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February 1957

FILM & TV TECHNICIAN

KODAK

AMONG the many resolutions on
the agenda of our Annual Gen-
eral Meeting will be one from
Humphries Laboratories on the
question of Trade Union recogni-
tion at Kodak Ltd. This again will
focus the attention of our member-
ship on the attitude of this Ameri-
can firm whose persistence in re-
fusing to negotiate with the Trade
Unions continues.

How much do other sections of
our membership really know about
this giant company, who employ
over 7,000 workers on film, sensi-
tised plates, paper and camera
production ?

Kodak Ltd. can be classified
under the heading of reasonable
employers who concede pension
rights, profit sharing, bonuses,
social facilities, etc. to their em-
ployees. However, experience in
the Trade Union movement has
taught us that concessions given in
the absence of negotiated agree-
ments can also be taken away.
These concessions can never be a
substitute for Trade Union repre-
sentation and recognition.

Wage Rates

Wage rates at Kodak are not
determined by the practice gener-
ally accepted throughout British
industry, i.e., through negotiation
with the Trade Unions. They are
established by a system of job
evaluation.

Periodical assessments are car-
ried out by the company's " Inde-
pendent Evaluation Officers ", and
at times it happens that as a result
of these assessments dissatisfac-
tion arises even if increased rates
are awarded !

One case was that of a Film
Dryer who had succeeded in pass-
ing a departmental examination
and had accepted promotion as a
Film Tester (a grade carrying a
higher basic rate). On the next
company evaluation, the Film
Dryer rate was increased to sur-
pass that of a Film Tester. This
meant that the individual con-
cerned was receiving a smaller
rate than he would have received
on his original job. Is this pro-
motion ?

On a number of occasions I have

met the management to pursue
grievances arising from job evalua-
tion. It is not uncommon to find
rates decreased after an assess-
ment.

Bessie Bond

The company find it extremely
profitable to employ people on
night work. Under the A.C.T.T.
agreement with the Film Labora-
tory Association night work is
paid at time-and-a-half, but our
members at Kodak receive only a

last five years, have failed to imple-
ment the holiday allowance operat-
ing in the Film Laboratories, i.e.,
three weeks' holiday after ten
years' service. With the exception
of certain grades, Kodak employees
have to complete twenty-five years'
service with the company before
becoming entitled to three weeks'
holiday.

Under our Laboratory agreement
all holiday and sickness benefits
for permanent shift workers are
calculated on premium rates. But
at Kodak both holiday and sickness
benefits are based on flat rates :
although the company could well
afford to implement these benefits
already enjoyed under A.C.T.T.
agreements.

NO' NO' A THOUSAND HMEf NO

meagre allowance of 7/- per night
above their normal day rate.

On this issue alone our members
have distributed over 2,000 leaflets
which met with favourable res-
ponse at the factory and assisted
in consolidating and recruiting
members.

It is significant to note that the
company which made, before taxa-
tion, over £12,000,000 profit in the

Under the Government Contract
Law any employer working on Gov-
ernment Contracts, as Kodak do,
must recognise the right of their
employees to join their appropriate
union. Kodak Ltd. are obliged to
adhere to this ruling, but this is
where their obligation ends. It is
true that the management on cer-
tain occasions agree to meet us

(Continued on page 22)

FILM & TV TECHNICIAN

February 1957

TALKING POINTS

(JHOP Stewards get strange ques-
•^ tions from their members, and
they are pretty good at finding the
right answers. However, try this
one on yours and see what happens
— "Are you breaking the agree-
ment if you drink coffee in the
tea break?"

This all came about because we
were talking of the shortage of
sugar which there appeared to be
in some parts of Soho recently,
just before the price went up. The
manufacturers were accused of
holding the sugar back, knowing
that the price was to increase, and
some A.C.T.T. members were won-
dering whether and when they
might get an increase to compen-
sate for this latest example of the
benefits of private enterprise.

Mr. Cube

Smiling on all this with his sweet
tooth showing is the famous " Mr.
Cube " of Tate and Lyle, who
seem to have monopolised sugar as
efficiently as Mr. Rank has films
and flour. " Mr. Cube's " West
Indian plantations had an excel-
lent year; "Mr. Cube's" own fleet
of sugar ships have been packed
full, and he has put up the freight
charges to the refineries. And who
owns the refineries? Why, " Mr.
Cube ", who has passed on the
charges (plus a nice little extra
amount for the refineries' profits)
to you.

But just you try passing the

KODAK

{continued)

and listen to our point of view, but
they decline to negotiate with us,
or with any trade union.

Nevertheless our growing
strength among the key film wor-
kers in the company is a clear and
inspiring indication that the wor-
kers, as a result of their own ex-
periences, plus the assistance of
our active members, who cease-
lessly fight for trade union recog-
nition, are learning that A.C.T.T.
membership has plenty to offer !

extra cost on to your employer —
assuming you are not unemployed

Cadmus"

— and see what happens ! If you
are one of those under the Labora-
tory, Shorts or Newsreel Agree-
ments who get an automatic rise
as the official cost-of-living index
rises, you will find that it is so
arranged that it is a long time
after the prices have gone up in
the shops that you get anything —
and then it will not be enough to
compensate you fully.

If you are a feature or TV mem-
ber, or working on making equip-
ment or at Kodak, you may well
get a lecture on how poor your
employer is and how wicked you
are for creating a wages-prices
spiral.

That other sweet pleasure

Of course, there is more to life
than eating sugar, Take that other
sweet pleasure, paying your land-
lord his rent, for instance.

But I shall not say much on this
topic, as it is to be aired at our
annual general meeting on 9th and
10th March. Let me just make a
point or two : the Government is
saying it must rush the Rent Bill
through Parliament because of the
pressure of business there — exactly
the same point that Lord Mancroft
made on behalf of the Government
in the House of Lords in December,
when it tried to rush the Quota
section of the Cinematograph Films
Bill through without proper oppor-
tunity for amending and discussing
it.

The film trade was unanimously
furious about this, and the Govern-
ment gave in and told Stephen
Swingler, M.P. in the House of
Commons that, after all, it pro-
posed consulting the industry on
the future of Quota legislation.

The moral is that if enough

people lobby their M.P.s about the
Rent Bill, that Bill can be delayed
and amended — but, of course, the
Government considers the Rent Bill
far more important than the Films
Bill, so it will not be an easy
fight.

Talking of lobbying, the cinema
owners are putting a lot of work
into trying to get Entertainments
Tax reduced in the Spring Budget.
I wish them luck, but do not think
me back-handed if I qualify those
good wishes. Our colleagues, the
cinema staffs in NATKE, should
get some of the benefit from a
reduced Tax, as should the cinema
patrons and the producers of Bri-
tish pictures.

No Calamity?

It would be foolish to make any
predictions about the Tax and the
Budget, but it is worth noting that,
especially since Suez, the high cost
of armaments will prevent the
Government being very generous
to the cinemas. When owners com-
plained that a number of halls
were closing, they were callously
told by Lord Mancroft : " We all
know places in which there seem
to be competing cinemas on every
corner, and it is little wonder that
in times of declining cinema atten-
dance some of these must of neces-
sity close their doors. But it would
be quite wrong, I think, to see in
this a calamitous situation."

It has been suggested that
cinema Entertainments Tax may
be slightly reduced, but, to make
up for this, there will be some form
of tax on television. The argu-
ment is that the Government would
not dare give the cinemas much of
a concession as that would en-
courage umpteen others to demand
similar treatment; and so it views
the entertainment business as a
single industry, and it intends
juggling with the tax it gets from
different departments of that in-
dustry. Damn clever, these politi-
cians !

We all know the close business
links between some sections of the
film and TV worlds — Granada TV
and Granada Theatres, for ex-
ample, or Rank's interests in
Cinema-Television Ltd. All this
raises again the need for our film
and our TV members to stick to-
gether, as well as the bigger ques-
tion of Trade Union unity within
the entertainment industry, which
was considered by the T.U.C.
several years ago. The latter is a
big problem that cannot be tackled
in a hurry. But there is no harm
in starting to think about it now.

February 1957

FILM & TV TECHNICIAN

A Technician's Notebook

Magnificent Photography

OPINIONS about the merits of
War and Peace as a motion
picture have varied considerably,
but there has been no disagree-
ment about the magnificence of
the colour photography.

In an interview with Jack
Cardiff, published in the American
Cinematographer, Derek Hill
elicited some interesting facts
about the shooting of this huge-
scale production.

First about the photographic
credits, which list Jack Cardiff as
director of photography with addi-
tional photography by Aldo Tonti,
a leading Italian cinematographer.
Tonti was apparently responsible
for some of the battle scenes and
all the Napoleon sequences, the
rest of the photography was
handled by Cardiff.

This was his first picture in
VistaVision and before production
started he spent two weeks in
Hollywood familiarising himself
with the system. To start with,
two new VistaVision cameras were
flown to Rome, later four VV
cameras were made available and
used in photographing the three
great battle scenes involving
thousands of extras.

Summer Snow

Cardiff said that his experience
on Scott of the Antarctic stood him
in good stead when it came to re-
creating the snow and storm
effects in War and Peace. ' Re-
creating ' is the right word as a
large proportion of the film was
shot during the height of the
Italian summer. For one scene it
was necessary to scatter powdered
plaster over a square mile of the
location to simulate the effect of
frost.

Sprayed Glass

In the ' exterior ' snow scenes
shot on the studio stage Cardiff
used a sheet of glass sprayed white
in front of the camera plus a pale
green filter to produce the effect of
a slight mist. The duel in the
snow sequence which has aroused
so much comment, was also shot
on one of the stages at Cine Citta.

To get the effect of dusk on a
winter evening a glass painting of
a sky was used in front of the
camera, as the wide angle lens with
which the scene was shot covered

A. E. Jeakins

too great a field. For a sun effect
in the same sequence a lamp was
directed on to the sky area of the
glass painting, this combined with
colour and fog filters, gave the
effect that Cardiff was aiming at.

" War and Peace was in many
ways a cameraman's holiday,"
Cardiff is quoted as saying, " It
was a realistic subject and it de-
manded a straightforward, raw
treatment . . . the whole approach

stated that the Dutch firm of
Philips had been entrusted with the
task of producing a suitable pro-
jector capable of showing not only
Todd-AO 70mm. film but also
35mm. films shot in any of the
systems in current use.

Stanley Bowler, who saw the
projector demonstrated at the
Photokina in Cologne, writes about
it in the British Journal of Photo-
graphy.

Within a year of the agreement
with the American Optical Co.
being entered into, the first
machines were shipped to America
in time for the premiere of
Oklahoma, first Todd-AO produc-
tion. The new Type DP70 machine
is now in full production.

As is now well known, in this
system the picture is photographed
with lenses having acceptance
angles up to 128° on to 70mm. film.

DUEL IN THE SNOW

was deliberately broad, almost
rough ".

It has been announced that
Todd-AO will be shown in this
country on 1st May. Readers may
remember that when details about
this system were first given some
two or three years ago, it was

The release print carries six
magnetic sound tracks.

As might be expected the pro-
jector is of massive and robust
construction. The main housing
for the film transport mechanism
is about two feet high by eighteen
inches from side to side and from
front to back.

FILM & TV TECHNICIAN

February 1957

OUR FEARS CONFIRMED

/"|UR fears that the Government
" has no intention of accepting
amendments to the new Cinemato-
graph Films Bill have been more
than confirmed by the debates in
the House of Lords during the
Committee stage. Not only have
all amendments been refused, but
the Government spokesman has
made it clear that there is no in-
tention at this stage to permit
changes in the all-important Part
Three of the Bill which deals with
the continuation of the Quota pro-
visions.

This part of the Bill confines it-
self to a simple extension of the
existing Act. Now this Act is ten
years old, and much experience has
been gained on its operation during
this period, and many weaknesses
have been discovered. It was hoped
that these could be corrected in the
new Act, and it is quite monstrous
for the Government to railroad
their Bill through both Houses of
Parliament without opportunity for
change and amendment.

It is not as if A.C.T.T. alone is
objecting to this course. For once
the whole industry appears to be
united on the fact that changes are
needed, even if views differ, as they
must do, as to what changes are
desirable.

Joint Protest

All the Trade Unions and the
B.F.P.A. have jointly protested to
the Government, and so, we under-
stand, have many other trade
bodies. As a result of these pro-
tests, and in reply to a question in
the Lower House from Mr. Stephen
Swingler, the President of the
Board of Trade has been obliged to
give an undertaking that later in
the year he will consult the Cine-
matograph Films Council and all
sections of the industry about de-
tailed amendments to the Quota
legislation.

Amplifying this, Lord Mancroft
said in the Lords that these dis-
cussions will begin just as soon as
the present Bill, and regulations
made under it, are completed with
a view to legislation as soon as
possible after that.

In the meantime the Government
will use its powers to get the pre-
sent Bill on the Statute Book, un-
altered.

Anyone who takes the trouble to
read the Hansard report of the
Lords debate will be well rewarded.
He will find, for instance, that the
noble lords sit only two days a
week, one day from 2.30 to 7 p.m.
and on the other from 3 to 7.30
p.m. Although these working
hours compare favourably with the
A.C.T.T.-B.F.P.A. Agreement, it is
instructive to note that in addition

Ralph Bond

to the Cinematograph Films Bill
their lordships also found time to
consider, during these arduous
working hours, the Hastings Tram-
ways Bill, the Dentists' Bill, the
Ghana Independence Bill, Egypt,
and the Public Trustee (Fees) Bill!

" I am Getting Tired "

All this hard work obviously had
an effect on Lord Mancroft, the
Government spokesman on the
Films Bill; at one stage he said:
" I should like to finish the Bill on
Tuesday night because 1 am get-
ting a little tired of it ". To which
Lord Lucas, Leader of the Oppo-
sition, very properly replied: " I
have not succeeded in one of my
amendments, but I am not tired ".

We cannot be satisfied with the
way the Government is forcing this
Bill through both Houses, despite
the promises of " later consulta-
tion ".

The changes that A.C.T.T., in
association with the other Unions,
desire, are of a fundamental
character. We want a much clearer
definition of what characterises a
"British" film. At the present time
it is possible for a film to be made
without any United Kingdom tech-
nicians being employed, and still
qualify for British Quota.

The present Act requires that to
be " British " a film must, among
other things, be made in a studio
within Her Majesty's Dominions,
and that a required percentage of
the labour costs involved shall be
paid to British subjects.

We are suggesting in both cases
that the words "United Kingdom"
shall be substituted, so as to pro-
tect the employment position of
A.C.T. T. and other Union members.

Lord Farringdon tabled the
appropriate amendments in the
House of Lords for this purpose,
but the Government strongly resis-
ted them.

We also suggest that a further
definition be added to the effect
that for a film to be " British " the
makers must ensure that not less
than 95 per cent of the laboratory
processing costs shall be incurred
with a laboratory in the United
Kingdom.

An amendment to secure this
new provision was also tabled by
Lord Farringdon, but met with a
similar fate.

What other changes do we
want? All the Unions are now
agreed that Renters' Quota should
be restored. As I mentioned in my
article last month, this was origin-
ally an integral part of the Act,
but was dropped in 1948. At that
time, A.C. r.T. and others, were
confident that British films could
at last stand on their own feet, and
consequently we did not oppose the
elimination of the Renters' Quota
provisions.

Events in the last ten years have
not justified these hopes. Despite
everything, our share of our own
exhibition market is still only 30
per cent. Hollywood films are as
powerfully entrenched as ever, and
there is no obligation on the im-
porters of these films to make any
British films at all.

Few would disagree that many
more British films could be made,
and the exhibitors are not al-
together without reason in com-
plaining that although they are
required by law to show a fixed
percentage of British films, there
is no statutory obligation on any-
one to make them. There is there-
fore a powerful argument for a
new Renters' Quota which would
oblige all the importers of foreign
films to make or acquire a pro-
portion of British products.

The Government will resist this
proposal because it will cause
offence to Hollywood, and will,
they say. be contrary to the

CINE-TECHNICIAN

Index Vol. 22 - 1956

SUBJECTS Page

ANGLO-AMERICAN FILM AGREEMENT 147

A.C.T. CHANGE OF NAME 43

A.C.T. COMMITTEES 61

A.C.T. FILMS

Suspended Alibi 165

The Jury 21,37.76

The Last Man to Hang 133

A.G.M.

Best in Our History (Editorial) 35

President's Speech 39

Report of Debate 40, 41, 42, 43

BERNARD SHAW CENTENARY 123

B.F.P.A. AGREEMENT , 52

BOOK REVIEWS

American Cinematographer Handbook 138

Commercial Television Year Book 58

Elsevir's Dictionary of Cinema, Sound and Music 185

Hi-Fi Loudspeakers and Enclosures 138

How Films Are Made 125

How to Write Film Comedies 58

Kemps TV Directory 138

Sunshine and Champagne 165

Sunshine and Shadow 155

CAMERA COLUMN 5, 22, 60, 72

CAMERA OF 1910 86

CHAPLIN, CHARLES, LIFE MEMBERSHIP 90

CINEMA'S DIAMOND JUBILEE t 88

CINE TECHNICIAN, CHANGE OF NAME 188

CO-OPERATIVE MOVEMENT 118, 136

DERMATITIS 5, 42 168

DYNAMIC FRAME TECHNIQUE 102

ELVIN, GEORGE

21st Anniversary I.. \3

The Early Days 6, 7

" Birthday Party " 7, 14

" Twenty-one Years," by Harold Myers 8, 9, 10, 11

Illness 148

EDITORIALS

Without Prejudice 3

We are Not Alone 19

Best A.G.M. in Our History 35

The Cost of Living 51

" Not bloody likely " 67

A Policy for British Films 83

Some Basis for a Policy 115

Prepare for these debates 163

Not Good Enough ? 179

FILM AND TV ROUND-UP 13, 29, 45, 59, 70

FILM STATISTICS 185

FILMING ROUND THE WORLD, Talk by S.r Arthur Elton 54

GENERAL COUNCIL IN SESSION 28, 75, 92, 107, 124, 140, 157, 172, 188

GENERAL SECRETARY WRITES 4, 20, 52, 68, 69, 100

GOVERNMENT AND FILMS 115, 163^ 179

GUIDE TO BRITISH FILM MAKERS 15, 30, 46, 62, 63, 77, 78, 94, 95, 109, 110, 127. 142, 158, 159

HUMPHRIES' NEW LABORATORY 53

HUNGARY FUND 190

LABORATORIES

Lab Topics 5, 22. 36, 56, 69, 70, 87, 105, 126, 148, 168, 187

Case for New Agreement 100

George Humphries — a Correction 171

Humphries' New Laboratory 53

Letter on 21st Anniversary Ig5

New Agreement Accepted 181

Pioneers Remember 153

President Congratulates Labs 147

Proposals for Lab Agreement 92

Twenty-one Years of Struggle 150

Why Labs want a New Agreement 73

LABOUR PARTY CONFERENCE

MANCHESTER TV RECRUITING

NATIONAL FILM FINANCE CORPORATION

OBITUARIES

Arthur Barnes

George Burgess

Arthur Dent

George Gresty

Sir Alexander Korda

Erin Lindegaard

Billy Russell ..."

F. A. Teather

OBSERVER FILM EXHIBITION

ORGANISER'S PAGE

PARIS STOCKTAKING

PETROL RATIONING

RANK ORGANISATION REPORT

"RUSHES". By " Focus "

SHAW, BERNARD, CENTENARY

SHORTS & DOCUMENTARY SECTION

TECHNICIANS' CREDITS. See Guide to British Film Makers

TECHNICIANS NOTEBOOK

TELEVISION

How we get on the air

ITV— a Policy for Balance

Time, Space and the I.T.A

TV Branch Formed

TV Producers' and Directors' Dance

TV Producer-Directors' Section

Twenty Years of Television

TRADE UNION TALKS IN ROME

THREE EXPERIMENTAL FILMS

"THREE-HEADED EDITOR REQUIRED"

TRADES UNION CONGRESS REPORT

U S. FILM SQUEEZE IN JAPAN

TRADE UNIONS' POLICY FOR BRITISH FILMS

WORKERS' EDUCATIONAL ASSOCIATION

Page

169

181

106

171

181

172

103

12, 27, 44, 55, 74, 92. 125. 139, 156. 167. 183

104

183, 188

149

186

123

11. 57, 75, 91, 101, 135. 156. 169. 182

11. 21, 38. 71. 72. 86. 122. 134. 164. 180

117

170

157

106, 155

184

116

, 24

131

83, 84

166

AUTHORS

BESWICK, FRANK, M.P.

Co-ops in Action

They Started a Revolution

BOND, RALPH

National Film Finance Corporation Report

Observer Film Exhibition

BOWER, DALLAS. Twenty Years of Television

BRUNEL, C.

Five Shillings a Day Holiday

They Start on April Fool's Day

U.S. Film Squeeze in Japan

COOPER, ALF. Lab Topics

COX, STEVE. Shorts & Documentary Section Report

DAVIS, DESMOND. Time, Space and the I.T.A

DICKINSON, THOROLD. Paris Stocktaking

ELTON, Sir ARTHUR. Filming Round the World (talk)

ELVIN, GEORGE and BOND, RALPH. T.U.C. Report

ELVIN, GEORGE and WHEELER, CHARLES. Trade Union Talks in Rome

"FOCUS". Rushes

GREEN. ERNEST. Sorry— It's Education

HARDY, FORSYTH. Years of Constant Struggle

HARRIS, LOUIS. Three-headed Editor Required

JEAKINS, A. E., Technician's Note Book

LAUNDER, FRANK. Sir Alexander Korda

LEWIS, MORTON. Film and TV Round-up

McLEOD, LEWIS. Dynamic Frame Technique

MIDDLETON, H. T.

Labour Party Conference

Organiser's Page 12.

MILROY, VIVIAN. How we get on the air

MYERS, HAROLD. Twenty-one Years

ORNA. B. and E. Camera of 1910

TWIST. DEREK. Rank Organisation Report

WHEELER, CHARLES and ELVIN. GEORGE. Trade Union Talks in Rome
WHITTEMORE, BILL. Why Labs Want a New Agreement

22, 56. 69. 87. 105. 126. 148. 168
11. 57. 75. 91, 101, 135. 156. 169

136

118

67. 68
103
184

133
185
85
187
182
99

104

131

116

186

166

11, 21, 38. 71. 72. 86. 122

13. 29. 45. 59. 70

102

169

27, 44. 55. 74. 92. 125. 139. 156. 167. 183

117

149

116

February 1957

FILM & TV TECHNICIAN

Geneva and Havana Agreements
on Tariffs and Trade. Our concern
is not with these Conventions, but
with providing the means for a big
expansion of the British film pro-
duction industry, and if G.A.T.T.
prevents this, it is up to the Gov-
ernment to get tough. France and
Italy are parties to G.A.T.T. but
their Governments can find ways
and means to help their film in-
dustries. Why can't ours?

Up to AH of Us

By the time you read this article
the debate in the House of Lords
will have concluded, and the Bill
will have had its third reading.
Now it will go to the House of
Commons for the same procedure.

It is important that every effort
be made to challenge in the Com-
mons the Government's arbitrary
attitude.

So please write or, better, see
your M.P. Even if you don't like
writing letters this is the one
occasion when your own personal
interests are vitally affected. It's
up to all of us.

Death of

Percy Hermes

The sudden death of Percy
Hermes wili come as a shock to
all who knew his lovable and
amusing personality.

Percy entered the industry with
Henry Edwards at Teddington
Studios in 1931, remaining when
Warner Bros, took over. When war
broke out he joined Launder-Gilliatt
Productions as their Permanent
First Assistant Director, and re-
mained with them for many years.
Of late he had been engaged on
work for Douglas Fairbanks Pro-
ductions.

During his twenty-five years in
the studios he had amassed credits
on nearly three hundred produc-
tions.

His son Douglas, also an Assis-
tant Director, to whom we extend
our deep sympathy, carries on the
tradition. He has been set high
standards by the respected and
popular Percy who will be sorely
mis'sed in those places where pic-
tures are made with an occasional
laugh as well as with keen effi-
ciency.

Shorts and Documentary Section

FILMS WE MAKE"

STEVE COX WRITES :

I am sure that our Section Com-
mittee and all the members who
have attended will agree that our
shows on the Films We Make are
giving great satisfaction.

Our second show. People, Not
Things, at the Mezzanine Theatre,
Shell Mex House, was even better
attended than the first.

The first film shown, Thursday's
Children, was introduced by Direc-
tor Guy Brenton, who also wrote
the script. He explained how, un-
sponsored, the Unit set out to por-
tray the teaching of deaf children,
whose ages range from four to
seven years, and how, when funds
were exhausted, Jimmy Carr of
World Wide Pictures stepped into
the breach and sponsored the film
through the editing, dubbing and
final stages.

Guy went on to say that the film
won an Oscar in 1954. It repre-
sented Britain at the 1954 Venice
Festival and was awarded a prize
in Edinburgh. Yet after all this
the big circuits refused to book it.
However, eventually it was booked
and shown at the Granadas.

The second film, Continuous
Observation, was written and
directed by Margaret ("Tommy")
Thomson for Basic Films and spon-
sored by the Ministry of Health
for the training of nurses in mental
health.

For Nurses

"Tommy" introduced the film,
explaining that it was made speci-
ally for nurses dealing with the
care and treatment of patients
suffering from psychosis. The film
showed the early experiences of a
young nurse training in a hospital
for mental cases.

A very lively discussion followed
the showing of the films. In the
course of this the view was ex-
pressed that apart from sponsor-
ship and distribution, both, of
course, important factors, the
script is vital, and to make good
films more time is needed at the
treatment and script stages. Also,
it was urged, films should contain
the human element because people
are interested in people, yet there

is a vast number of productions
churned out with a monotonous
voice, droning on and on.

Well, now I know that if and
when I ever become a Producer —
no comments, please! — I shall
want a good sponsor, give my
director plenty of time on the
treatment and script, not too long,
though, and I shall want good dis-
tribution to get the sponsor's
money back.

On behalf of the Committee I
would like to thank all those who
attended and made the show the
success it was.

Rushed to Middle East

Now for an item of news. I re-
cently met Director George Sturt,
who was out in Ceylon for four and
a half years working for the Ceylon
Government. Two months after his
return here he was lushed off to
the Middle East to direct Jack
Howell's picture Journey from the
East.

Jack wrote the script and pro-
duced the film, Cyril Arapoff was
Cameraman, and Terry Trench was
the Editor. I believe these have
been mentioned in this column be-
fore, so I will add that Jack, who
was in hospital is back in his pro-
ducers' chair. Cyril is due back
from the Gold Coast shortly and
Terry, to my knowledge, is ^till
basking in the Australian sun.

Cover Still

Jimmy Edwards, as Harris, in
Three Men in a Boat, gets tough
with a Zoo parrot.

L Still by Ray Hearne.

FILM & TV TECHNICIAN

Editor:
MARTIN CHISHOLM

Editorial Office:
2 Soho Square, W.l

Telephone: GERrard 8506

Advertisement Office:

5 and 6 Red Lion Sq., W.C.I

Telephone: HOLborn 4972

FILM & TV TECHNICIAN

February 1957

The winter issue of " Bulletin ",
organ of IATSE, our counterpart
in the U.S.A., throws an interest-
ing light on union affairs over
there. It seems the Sound Section
there are as much in the vanguard
as here. In a large box on one
page is notice of a substantial
wage increase and a cut in the
working week from 44 to 40 hours
for R.C.A. sound maintenance men.

The final paragraph of the notice
would ring a bell for sound mem-
bers. It refers to violations of the
44-hour week and asks members to
submit copies of their time-sheets
when this has occurred.

An item for the Television Pro-
gramme Contractors : Seattle
members of the union, helping in a
state-wide campaign to popularise
the buying of goods bearing a
union label, made a brief television
film on the subject. The three
local stations showed the picture
free on their allotted public service
time.

Among the five new designs of
Christmas cards sold in 1956 by
the Motion Picture Relief Fund,
the first two selected by the judges
were the work of the Hollywood
Scenic Artists Branch. Said their
secretary, " We are proud of our
members. They were competing
with art directors and high-rank-
ing artists of the nation ". . .

A note for the Publicity Section :
When Local (818) (Publicists) held
its annual party one of the guests,
a young star, made her entrance
on a baby elephant, and Miss Jayne
Mansfield attended in a miniature
leopard's skin bikini. (How

" miniature " can a bikini get?)

South Africa

Freedom is having a tough time
of it in many parts of the world
these days and not least in South
Africa. Skimming through the
pages of the I.L.O. review, usually
packed with .such information as
the fact that Afghanistan has rati-
fied one ILO convention since that
body's formation in 1919, I came
across the following piece of
vicious legal jargon from the South
African Industrial Relations Act
1956. In the section dealing with

definitions, the Act states: " A
' coloured person ' means a person
who is not a white person or a
native, a ' white person ' means a
person who in appearance ob-
viously is, or who is generally
accepted as a white person, but
does not include a person who,
although in appearance obviously
white, is generally accepted as a
coloured person ".

Hungary

Members will be glad to hear,
following the generous response to
the TUC appeal, that the Hun-
garian TUC has written thanking
the TUC for their help.

No Assistants ?

The Rank Organisation is noted
for its excellent publicity. Re-
cently it took a half-page in The
Times for an advertisement that
depicted the whole production
team from production manager
to clapper-boy all standing on the
set. A chart by the large photo-
graph (on which several A.C.T.T.
members were recognisable) indi-
cated the various jobs. I scrutin-
ised the list, found there were full
crews but for some reason or other
only the First Assistant Director
was included. A film at Pinewood
without second and third assistants
is rare to the point of being non-
existent.

Redundancy

I have been asked to reassure
our members in Associated-Re-
diffusion TV about redundancy
rumours in this company. I have
it from most authoritative and re-
liable sources that there are to be
no dismissals among those con-
cerned with the writing, trans-
mission, and distribution of memos.
If anything, there is likely to be
an increase in this work.

" Young Film "

I have a copy of " Young Film "
before me, a new publication put
out by the International Union of
Students, and meant for young
people working in or interested in
films. It is an interesting develop-
ment when a magazine published

in Prague has a back page still of
Miss Diana Dors. The magazine
has a more serious side with
articles on films made by the
Prague High School of Cinemato-
graphy. A quote from the caption
under a cartoon, a jaded producer
speaking : " Oh, it's the same old
story . . . mad scientist meets ape-
girl, ape-girl throws mad scientist
into volcano, werewolf bites ape-
girl, elephant boy marries
daughter of vampire."

Congratulations to Mr. and Mrs.
Alan Blay on the birth of a
daughter, Susan Ann, on 7th Feb-
ruary. Both mother and daughter
are doing well. Alan Blay is our
deputy steward at Shepperton
Studios, and our members there,
particularly the sound department,
extend their best wishes to the
family.

Our stills members have lost an
old friend and colleague in Frank
Bourne, who died recently in hos-
pital. He had been in bad health
for some time, but before that he
had always been an enthusiastic
member of the union and parti-
cularly of the stills section. He
joined the A.C.T.T. in 1938 and will
be remembered and missed by
many old friends in the business.

ftfCU*

Cover Competition
Result

First prize of £10 10s. Od.
in the competition for our
new cover has been
awarded to Jack Timms.
The second prize of
£3 3s. Od. has been awarded
to Albert W. l T rry. Nine
entries were received and
the Journal Committee
would like to thank all
entrants fur the high
standard of work sub-
mitted.

February 1957

FILM & TV TECHNICIAN

Lab Topics

RADIANT • TECHNICOLOR • OLYMPIC

OUR Shop Steward at Radiant
Color Laboratories, Slough,
tells us that work is still going on
and that they have a hope of this
laboratory remaining open. All our
members who became redundant a
short while ago have not been fixed
up with jobs yet, as there seems a
reluctance among some of them to
move from the Slough area. How-
ever, one has obtained employment
at Pinewood Studios.

The Technicolor Shop has now
started the experiment of subscrip-
tions being stopped at source each
week, as agreed by the General
Council some little while back, and
it is felt by many of us that one
of the biggest headaches in a large
shop such as this is about to end.
Many of the members are really
keen on this idea, but it is only
fair to report that some are not
too happy.

The shop committee hope that as
I he idea gets into full swing every-
body will realise that it is a good
system, with more good points than
bad ones. To the really good Trade
Unionist, who cannot afford a
year's subscription in advance, it
certainly is a comfort to know that
at all times he is in good standing
with his brothers, and that the
union is able to plan ahead and
meet all its financial obligations
because its revenue, part of which
he supplies, is getting to Head
Office regularly each week. Shift
work of members and collectors
has caused people in the past to
be weeks in arrears many times
per year. This will now not be
possible.

Weeks of Rumour

After many weeks of rumour it
is now a fact our lads at Olympic
are under the Rank banner. Sid
Bremson, who has worked with
both sets of Lab boys, and at the
moment, as you all probably know,
is working at the Rank Labora-
tories, Denham, reports the follow-
ing:

" The taking over of Olympic
Kinematograph Laboratories by
the Rank Organisation on 4th Feb-
ruary brings the flood of rumours
which have been circulating for the
last month or two to an end.

Olympic Labs have been more or
less ' on the market ' for the last
five years, and some four years
ago Republic Pictures Corporation

■By

A If Cooper

nearly bought them up, but the
deal never went through.

Leaving the controversial side of
the Rank deal out of these notes
altogether, may I, as an ' Ex-
Olympian ', welcome the boys and
girls of Olympic to the same pay
roll, if not to the same building,
and pass on to them the first-hand
information given to both George
Irons and myself by Mr. Bill Har-
court, Managing Director of Rank
Laboratories, in the hope of alle-
viating any fears for the future
that may be in their minds.

Olympic is to be used exclusively
for Black and White processing,
all colour will be centred at Den-
ham, leaving North Acton free to
concentrate on their normal Black
and White plus the additional foot-
age that will be sent there from
Denham. This includes 16mm. as
well as 35mm. It is expected that
output processing at North Acton
will be so increased as to make it
possible that we shall have to in-
crease the staff; redundancy at
Olympic is certainly not contem-
plated. The jobs there are safe.
Mr. Harcourt further told us that
it was intended to have key per-
sonnel from Olympic spend some
time at Denham and vice-versa.
In that way each will get to know
and find out how the other operates.

I understand that a letter ter-
minating their employment by
Paramount has been received by
all personnel working at Olympic
and Paramount take the oppor-
tunity of thanking members for
their long and loyal service, but
make no reference to an ex gratia
payment for that loyal service. It
might well be that this great
American company with all its

frozen assets in this country could
not itself unfreeze sufficiently to
include in that letter some pittance
for loss of office, good will or what-
have-you.

Let us hope that they will be
more generous to our Paramount
Newsreel members when, by put-
ting out the final issue on 14th
February, they will, after twenty-
six years' loyal service, be putting
themselves out of a job."

The A.G.M.

Laboratory members total some-
thing like one-third of the member-
ship of our Union. Here it comes
lads, don't forget that 9th and 10th
March is A.C.T.T.'s 24th Annual
General Meeting, and a large —
very large — number of us should
make a date to be there. The
laboratories are a really important
section of this industry, some of us
thing the most important. That
may not be quite true, but to those
of us in the section it is important
that the incoming General Council
shall know well in advance our
requirements in the coming year.
Only by attending the A.G.M. can
you make them aware of your own
point of view, and that we are a
section made up of keen and reso-
lute members.

Remember, the laboratories over
this last year or two have had a
tendency to decrease rather than
increase — getting together after
the event is too late — we have got
to find an answer to maintaining
continued employment for us all
now, and only by getting together
as often as possible can the best
methods and ideas be obtained. A
virile and well-supported organisa-
tion is by far the best weapon
when meeting opposition to any
schemes or ideas that an organisa-
tion such as ours is trying to put
into effect.

Suspended Alibi

A.C.T. Films latest completed
production. Suspended Alibi,
commences a full Odeon Cir-
cuit release on 25th February.

FILM & TV TECHNICIAN

February 1957

Letters to the Editor

IS IT OUR BUSINESS?

I should like to take up Vivian
Milroy's estimation that Unions, or
our Union, should not criticise TV
programmes because " such mat-
ters might be said to be outside the
province of Trade Unionism ".

My annoyance is not that unions
should take up very earnestly the
art of public relations, for that is
what it is, but that our trade union
movement doesn't even know the
subject, and that to its detriment.

As Vivian Milroy will agree, it's
the trade union movement which
protects and advances the real
social and economic interests of
the people. Yet on such public
relations we are asked to mind our
own business.

Various American unions have
shown their maturity when
they express their organised be-
liefs, not merely through simple
press statements or even television,
but through films, such as Brother-
hood of Man (Automobile Workers'
Union). The Japanese unions
(N.U.T. & E.T.U.) have campaigned
for their members and citizens
alike, against the H-bomb tests by
sponsoring and producing films on
the subject.

I hope my brief examples show
that there is a principle of impor-
tance at stake here, especially in
these days when the offensive is
against the basic rights of trade
unionism, which at least I trust
Vivian Milroy accepts.

There are a growing number of
people who would restrict the in-
terests of Trade Unions to purely
working conditions.

As to whether the actual Press
statement in question was correct
or at fault I do not know. But I
do agree that our General Council
should issue such statements if it
considers it in the interests of our
members and the public.

Yours sincerely,

Lewis McLeod.

Vivian Milroy in his article
seems to forget that the film and
I'V industries are more than just
businesses — they arc arts as well.

Whether they are healthy or not
depends on artistic as well as on
economic factors, and very often
the two are linked. Surely, there-

fore, it is very much the business
of A.C.T. T. to be concerned about
what its members help to produce
for the cinema and cathode ray
screens of the country.

This argument is well illustrated
by the case of the cinema news-
reels, which in their presentation
have for a number of years been
extremely conservative (in the
political sense of the word, too,
incidentally); they are very old-
fashioned in their choice of sub-
ject and in their treatment of these
subjects, and this has been one of
the major reasons why cinemas are

beginning to do without them.
Therefore, for aesthetic reasons
our newsreel and laboratory mem-
bers are suffering economically.

But I think there is a further
point as well : there always seems
to me to be very much more satis-
faction in turning out a good and
worthwhile product, whether it be
newsreel, TV programme, feature
or short, because both as indivi-
duals and as Union members we
like to feel proud of what we do.

Yours faithfully,

Christopher Brunei.

General Council in Session

TAKE-OVER BY RANK

KAY AND OLYMPIC LABS AND
PARAMOUNT NEWS. The Acting
General Secretary reported that
the Manager of Kay Laboratories
had been in touch with him re-
garding the ban on the processing
of Sportsmen) for the B.B.C. which
had originated at Olympic. Sub-
sequently Kay's had issued a press
statement on the matter. Strong
rumours of a take-over of Olympic
Laboratories and Paramount News
by the J. Arthur Rank Organisa-
tion were reported, and in view of
the problems created, not only in
regard to our members at Olympic
over the processing of Sportsview,
but other problems which might
arise including redundancy if the
rumours proved correct, the Exe-
cutive Committee authorised Head
Office to take whatever action
appeared necessary.

It was also agreed that the
Legislation Committee should con-
sider at an early date the whole
problem of the Rank Organisation
in relation to the Monopolies Act.
Subsequently an Organiser saw the
Manager of Olympic Labs together
with the Shop Steward when the
changeover to the Rank Organisa-
tion was confirmed (see page 27).

PARAMOUNT NEWS. The Exe-
cutive Committee also considered
Paramount News, where the mem-
bers have all been in the company's
service for many years and most
of them are near retirement age,
although they are not covered by
any pension scheme. It was agreed
that the Acting General Secretary
and the Organiser should press for

an early meeting with the manage-
ment to ascertain their intentions,
and if the intention is to dispense
with the services of any of our
members we should press for some
form of remuneration by the com-
pany equivalent to what the mem-
bers concerned would have obtained
had a pension scheme been
operated.

The Council was told that Para-
mount refused to meet A.C.T.T.
and discuss compensation for Para-
mount News staff, and it was
agreed to reply that it was our
duty to protect our membership
and we reserved the right to take
any action in the matter; it was
also agreed to prepare a case in
conjunction with our newsreel
members for a public campaign
over Paramount's refusal to dis-
cuss the problem with the Union.

SPORTSVIEW. After considerable
discussion of the situation on
Sportsvieiv it was agreed that the
material for this programme could
go to any British laboratory pre-
pared to pay the rates negotiated
with A.C.T.T., instead of being sent
abroad for processing. The
Manager of Rank Laboratories,
Denham, was reported as saying
that as far as he could see, the
take-over of Olympic would not re-
sult in any redundancy, but he
could not guarantee this. The
Council instructed Head Office to
seek guarantees for any members
shifted from one lab to another.

BRITISH ACOUSTIC. The Shop
Steward, Bob Langdon, reported to

February 1957

FILM & TV TECHNICIAN

the Council that the company had
declared a 20 % redundancy with
effect from the following week on
the grounds of trade recession in
the home and overseas markets.
The A.C.T.T. and A.E.U. members
in the factory had immediately de-
clared an overtime ban (except for
maintenance) and had passed a
resolution saying that there should
be a 4-day week in place of re-
dundancy; the company had turned
this down. Paddy Leech was in-
structed to take up the matter
immediately, and the Council re-
solved to congratulate the B.A.
Shop on its action to combat re-
dundancy, to assure the members
of the Council's support and to
congratulate the Steward on his
reporting of the matter.

N.S.S. LABS. Bessie Bond reported
that the company was being diffi-
cult about operating the recent
Laboratory increase. The manage-
ment said they were in a different
category from other laboratories
who depend on outside customers
to give them work. They existed
entirely on their own and the lab.
was running at a loss. They have
offered 50% of the increase. The
Council agreed that the Organiser
should press for the payment of
the full increase.

INDUSTRY TRAINING SCHEME.

Bert Craik reported on a letter
received from the British Film
Academy, requesting a meeting to
consider the possibility of reviving
a training scheme in the industry.
After considerable discussion the
E.C. agreed to appoint representa-
tives to the meeting and to ask the
Academy for copies of the paper
which they have prepared. The
representatives were mandated to
make clear to the Academy repre-
sentatives the various reservations
A.C.T.T. has on the question of a
training scheme.

TECHNICAL AND SCIENTIFIC
FILMS. A problem had arisen
over non-synchronous sound effects
for a 16mm. Kodachrome film,
Caribou, being made for Priestman
and Company Ltd. for non-
theatrical use. The Shop Steward
confirmed that the company had
been experiencing undercutting by
other firms, which are not mem-
bers of the A.S.F.P. and do not
operate the Shorts Agreement. On
this particular film the clients in-
sisted on sound effects of their
cranes at work without being pre-
pared to pay the price of the re-
cording with an A.C.T.T. crew.
However, Technical and Scientific
went ahead on their clients' terms

and now hoped that under all the
circumstances their case would be
given special consideration. The
Shop Steward, Derek Knight, was
in attendance at the Executive and
made additional points, which he
felt should be considered with
some sympathy in view nf the good
relations which existed with Tech-
nical and Scientific and their good
record to date as far as strict
application of the Shorts Agree-
ment is concerned. The Executive
Committee agreed that:

(a) The work should not be
blacked on this occasion but
the company should be given
a firm warning that on no
account would any such con-
cession be made in future,
unless the request for a con-
cession is lodged with the
Union before any contrac-
tual arrangements with
clients are entered into.

(b) Those members who were
aware of what was being;
done and said nothing until
their return from location
should be reprimanded and
reminded that they should
notify Head Office im-
mediately anything of this
kind occurs unless they have
been advised beforehand
that such a departure from
the provisions of the Shorts
Agreement has been ap-
proved.

(c) A letter of thanks should be
sent to the Editor for his
keen attention to the prin-
ciple involved and to the
Shop Steward for drawing
our attention to the matter.

KODAK— APPROACH TO THE
MANAGEMENT. It was agreed
that the recommendation of the
Kodak members should be imple-
mented and Head Office should
request a meeting with the
Management.

AFFILIATIONS. It was agreed
to continue affiliation to the Film
Industry Sports Association, the
Film Industry Employees' Council
and the National Federation of
Professional Workers. It was also
agreed to affiliate to the Man-
chester and Salford Trades Council
on the basis of 90 local members
at the cost of 30/- per annum.

TV COMPANIES' CUT RATES,

It was agreed that Head Office
should write to the A.S.F.P., re-
questing an early meeting to dis-
cuss some form of joint action, as

suggested by the Shorts and Docu-
mentary Section.

RECORDING DIALOGUE ON
CHILDREN'S FILMS. A long
memorandum had been drawn up
by the A.S.F.P., following a nego-
tiating meeting with them, which
was considered by the E.C. It was
agreed that it be referred to the
Sound Section for its detailed com-
ments as a matter of urgency,
and then reported back to the E.C.

A.G.M. EMERGENCY RESOLU-
TION. The Laboratories Com-
mittee, having considered the take-
over of Olympic Labs by the Rank
Organisation, recommended the
tabling by the General Council of
an Emergency Resolution on the
contraction of laboratories and on
monopolies. This was agreed, and
the Laboratories Committee was
asked to prepare research material
for the use of the Union.

MEETINGS BETWEEN BFPA
AND THREE UNIONS. Bert
Craik and Charles Wheeler re-
ported on meetings between
A.C.T.T., E.T.U. and N.A.T.K.E.
with the BFPA on such subjects
as the Cinematograph Bill, con-
ciliation to prevent stoppages and
interruptions of production, enter-
tainment tax, spread-over of pro-
duction, a proposed Casualisation
Fund for employees on the film pro-
duction side of the industry, and
the reduction in cinema atten-
dances. The reports were endorsed
with thanks to A.C.T.T.'s represen-
tatives.

Camera Hire

(1) NEWMAN SINCLAIR— Mirror Shutter.
All Cooke Lenses including Series 2.,
2Smm., f.1.7. SINGLE FRAME EXPOSURE
and Electric Motor Drive. (Available fully
adapted for CINEMASCOPE if required.)

(2) NEWMAN SINCLAIR— Mirror Shutter.
Cooke Lenses and 24mm. Angineux Retro-
focus.

(3) NEWMAN SINCLAIR— Model G. Al 1
Cooke Lenses. SINGLE FRAME EXPOSURE
and Electric Motor Drive if required.

Kingston Tubular and Vinten Light Gyro
Tripods.

LOCATION
CAMERA DOLLYS

Metal construction, pneumatic tyres, drop-
down jacks, lightweight tracks, etc.

S. W. SAMUELSON

FINchley I 595

FILM & TV TECHNICIAN

February 1957

Did You Know ?

" CincmaScopc installations have
reached their saturation point prac-
tically everywhere . . . 17,561 in the
U.S. and Canada, and 21,792 over-
seas." — Spyros Skouras (20th Cen-
tury Fox President).

British Chimneys Honoured

Two Hungarian film makers,
documentary producer Istvan Simar
and cameraman Janos Badal, were
in London recently to film in colour
their State Song and Dance En-
semble.

During their five-week visit they
have also been shooting the usual
London material of Big Ben, Hyde
Park, Soho, etc. But while in Dover
they became suddenly intrigued
" by the uniformity of the houses
with chimneys of so many different
types ". So now British chimneys
have been honoured on film in a
future Hungarian " Chimney Re-
view ".

Also, it appears plans are afoot
for a co-production. Producer Akos
Rathonyi wants to make Zsigmond
Moricz's novel " Sarany " using a
cast of English, American and
Hungarian actors.

Attention, all screenwriters!

Every national film industry is
on the lookout for successful plays,
scripts and budding new writers.
This great need is showing itself
in percentages.

A recent analysis made by the
N.F.F.C. on production costs re-
veals that only 4.5 per cent is allo-
cated for story and script. In
Hollywood the figure is around 12
to 15 per cent of the whole cost.

Now I wonder why this is so?
Could it be that our American
Screenwriters' Union are better
organised and generally are more
on the ball? I gather that the
screenwriter's rate of fees is

approximately three times more
than his British counterpart's.

Also, I am told American writers
have insisted on all credits on all
forms of advertisements.

I hope readers will hear replies
on this score from the appropriate
section.

For H.P. Payers Only

As H.P. is on the increase in this
country and likewise short time
and unemployment, I should like to
pass on this tale from an American
Trade Union journal :

A young lady, several payments
behind on her fur coat, received
the following letter from the
Finance Company : " What would
your neighbours think if we found
it necessary to come and repossess
your fur coat?"

A few days later the company
received the following reply from
the young lady : " I have taken up
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ODONGO

Kear o/ Production: 1955.

Studio: M.G.M.

Laboratory : Technicolor.

Producing Company: Warwick Film
Productions Ltd.

Executive Producer: Islin Auster.

Producer: Max Varnel.

Stars: Macdonald Carey. Rhonda
Fleming, Eleanor Summerfield, Juma.
Francis de Wolff.

Directors: John Gilling, Michael For-
long (2nd Unit).

Scenarists: Islin Auster, John Gilling.

Camera Department: Lighting Camera-
men, Ted Moore, Fred Ford; Camera
Operator, Ernie Day; 1st Camera
Assistants (Focus), Peter Hall, Ceri
Davies; Other Camera Assistants,
Kelvin Pike, Neil Gemmell ; Second
Camera Operator, Fred Ford.

Sound Department: Recordist (Mixer),
Gerry Turner; Sound Camera Opera-
tor, Peter Day; Boom Operator, Derek
Kavanagh; Other Assistant (Main-
tenance), N. T. Stevenson; Dubbing
Crew: M.G.M. Sound Crew.

Art Department: Art Director. Elliott
Scott.

Editing Department: Supervising Edi-
tor, Alan Osbiston; Editor, Jack
Slade; Assembly Cutter, Mary Russell-
Wood; 1st Assistant, Philip Barnikel ;
Other Assistant, Alan Pattillo; Dub-
bing Editors, David Elliott, Geoff
Lawes.

Production Department: Production
Manager and/or Unit Production
Manager, Henry Geddes; 1st Assis-
tant Director, Douglas Twiddy; 2nd
Assistant Director, Rene Dupont; 3rd
Assistant Director, Jackie Green;
Continuity, Maisie Kelly; Production
Secretary, Marguerite Green.

Stills Department: Still Cameraman,

Bert Cann.
Special Processes: Cinemascope-East -
mancolor.

Publicity Director: Euan Lloyd.

THE GREEN MAN

Year of Production: 1956.

Studio: Shepperton Studios.

Laboratory: Humphries.

Producing Company: Grenadier Pro-
ductions Ltd.

Producers: Frank Launder and Sidnev
Gilliat.

Associate Producer: Leslie Gilliat.

Stars: Alastair Sim, George Cole, Terry
Thomas, Jill Adams.

Director: Robert Day.

Scenarists: Sidney Gilliat.

Camera Department: Lighting Camera
man, Gerald Gibbs; Camera Operator,
Alan Hume; 1st Camera Assistant
(Focus), Godfrey Godar; Other
Camera Assistant, Ian Muir.

Sound Department: Recordist (Mixer),
Buster Ambler; Sound Camera
Operators, Harry Tate, Jimmy
Dooley; Boom Operator, Ken Ritchie;
Boom Assistant, Fred Peters; Other
Assistant, Eric Vincent (Main-
tenance) ; Dubbing Crew, Red Law.
J. Aldred, B. Hopkins.

Art Department: Art Director, Wilfred
Shingleton; Assistant Art Director,
John Hoesli (Set Dresser); Draughts-
man, Frank Wilson; Dress Designer,
Anna Duse.

Editing Department: Editor, Bernard
Gribble; 1st Assistant, Eric Brown;
Other Assistant, Jeremy Saunders;
Dubbing Editor, John Glen.

Production Department: Production
Manager and/or Unit Production
Manager, John Pellatt ; 1st Assistant
Director, Douglas Hermes; 2nd
Assistant Director, Peter Price; 3rd
Assistant Director, David Tringham;
Continuity, Olga Brook; Production
Secretary, Sheila O'Donnell.

Stills Department: Still Cameraman,
Norman Hargood.

Special Processes: Scenic Artists,
Basil Manning, Wally Veevers,
George Samuels.

Publicity Department: Publicity Direc-
tors, Kenneth Green, Victor Betts.

IT'S A WONDERFUL WORLD

Year of Production : 1956.

Studio: Shepperton Studios.

Laboratory: Technicolor.

Producing Company: George Minter
Productions Ltd.

Producer: J. G. Minter.

Associate Producer: D. O'Dell.

Stars: Terence Morgan. George Cole.
Ted Heath, Mylene Nicole, Kathleen
Harrison, James Hayter, Denis Lotus.

Director: Val Guest.

Scenarist: Val Guest.

Camera Department: Lighting Camera-
man, Wilkie Cooper; Camera Opera-
tor, Alan Hume; 1st Camera Assis-
tant (Focus), Godfrey Godet ; Other
Camera Assistant, Ronnie Anscome :
Second Camera Operator, Ernie
Webb.

Sound Department: Recordist (Mixer),
Bert Ross; Sound Camera Operator,
E. Webb; Boom Operator, Peter
Dukelow; Dubbing Crew, Red Law,
Peter Jones, Barbara Hopkins.

Art Department: Art Director, Elvin
Webb; Assistant Art Director,
Maurice Fowler; Draughtsman, D.
Woolland ; Dress Designer, Julie
Harris.

Editing Department: Editor, John
Pomeroy; 1st Assistant, R. Copple-
man ; Other Assistant, Alma Godfrey:
Dubbing Editor, Chris Greenham.

Production Department: Production
Manager and /or Unit Production
Manager: A. E. Brettell ; 1st Assis-
tant Director, Gerry O'Hara; 2nd
Assistant Director, Ted Sturgess; 3rd
Assistant Director, John Kerrison ;
Continuity, Phyllis Crocker; Produc-
tion Secretary, Phyllis Townsend.

Stills Department: Still Cameraman,

Laurie Ridley.
Special Processes: Wally Veevers (i/c
Special Effects. Shepperton Special
Effects Dept.— Matte— Painters).
Publicity Department: Publicity Direc-
tor, Pat O'Connor.

JACQUELINE

Year of Production: 1956.

Studio: Pinewood.

Laboratory: Denham.

Producing Company: The Rpnk
Organisation Film Productions Ltd.

Producer: George Brown.

Production Controller: Arthur Alcott.

Stars: John Gregson, Kathleen Ryan
Jacqueline Ryan, Cyril Cusack, Noel
Purcell.

Director: Rov Baker.

Scenarists: Patrick Kirwan and Liani
O'Flaherty.

Additional Dialogue: Patrick Camp-
bell and Catherine Cookson.

Camera Department: Lighting Camera-
man, Geoffrey Unsworth; Camera
Operator, Jack Atcheler: 1st Camera
Assistant (Focus), John Alcott
Other Camera Assistants, M. Wilson.

Sound Department: Recordist (Mixer),
Geoffrey Daniels; Sound Camera
Operator, C. Arnold; Boom Operator.
Pat Wheeler; Boom Assistant, A. E.
Carverhill; Dubbing Crew, Gordon K.
McCallum, Ted Karnon, C. le Mes-
surier; Music, Ted Drake.

Art Department: Art Director, Jack
Maxsted; Assistant Art Director
(Set), Arthur Taksen; Draughtsmen.
Harry Pottle (Chief), Peter Lamont,
Bob Cartwright, Ramsay Short :
Dress Designer, Eleanor Abbey.

Editing Department: Editor, John
Guthridge; Assembly Cutter, James
Kelly; Other Assistants, Richard
Woodworth, Maureen Howard; Dub-
bing Editor, James Groom, (Asst.)
Gareth Bogarde.

Production Department: Production
Manager, Roy Goddard; 1st Assistant
Director, Bob Asher; 2nd Assistant
Director, Harold Orton; 3rd Assis-
tant Director, Peter Carey; Con-
tinuity, Tilly Day; Production Secre-
tary, Jean Tisdall.

Stills Department: Still Cameraman
Harry Gillard.

Publicity Department: Unit Publicist.
Bob Herrington.

HOUSE OF SECRETS

Year of Production: 1956.

Studio: Pinewood.
Laboratory: Technicolor.

Producing Company: Rank Organisa-
tion Film Productions Ltd.

Producer: Vivian Cox.

Stars: Michael Craig, Julia Arnall,
Brenda De Banzie, David Kossof,
Geoffrey Keen, Barbara Bates.

Director: Guy Green.

Scenarists: Robert Buckner, Bryan
Forbes.

Camera Department: Lighting Camera-
man, Harry Waxman ; Camera Opera-
tor, Jim Bawden ; 1st Camera Assis-
tant (Focus), Alec Mills; Other
Camera Assistant : Ron Anscombe.

Sound Department: Recordist (Mixer),
Dudley Messenger; Sound Camera
Operator, C. Arnold : Boom Operator,
John Salter: Boom Assistant, A. E.
Carverhill; Dubbing Crew, Gordon K.
McCallum, W. Daniels, C. le Mes-
surier; Music, Ted Drake.

Art Department: Art Director, A.
Vetchinsky; Asst. Art Director (Set).
Arthur Taksen; Draughtsmen, Lionel
Couch (Chief), Terry Marsh, Charlie
Bishop; Dress Designer, Julie Harris.

Editing Department: Editor, Sydney
Hayers; Assembly Cutter, Roy Fry;
Other Assistant, Tristram "Cones;
Dubbing Editor, Archie Ludski;
Assistant, Chris Lancaster.

Production Department: Production
Manager. H. R. R. Attwooll; 1st
Assistant Director, Bob Asher; 2nd
Assistant Director, John Oldknow;
3rd Assistant Director, Peter Carey;
Continuity, Tilly Day, Susan Dyson;
Production Secretary, Teresa Bolland.

Stills Department: Still Cameraman,
Harry Gillard.

Special Processes: W. Warrington,
F. George, S. Pearson, W. Marshall.

Publicity Director: George Mason.

March 1951

FILM & TV TECHNICIAN SUPPLEMENT

DRY ROT

of Production: 1956.

Studio: British Lion Studios, Shepper-
ton.

Laboratory: Humphries.

Producing Company : Remus Films Ltd.

Producer: Jack Clayton.

Production Supervisor: Raymond An-
-/.arut.

Stars: Ronald Shiner, Brian Rix, Sid-
ney James.

Director: Maurice Elvey.

Scenarist: John Roy Chapman.

Cat era Department: Lighting Camera-
man, Arthur Grant; Camera Operator,
Peter Newbrook; 1st Camera Assistant
(Focus), Alan Hall; Other Camera
Assistant (Clapper/Loader), Ronald
Drinkwater; Lighting Cameraman
(2nd Unit), Freddie Francis.

Sound Department: Recordist (Mixer),
Peter Handford; Sound Camera
Operator, Jack Smart; Boom Opera-
tor, Bill Cook; Dubbing Crew, Red
Law, Bob Jones, Barbara Hopkins;
Sound Maintenance. C. Hunt.

Art Department: Art Director, Norman
Arnold; Assistant Art Director and
Draughtsman, W. Hutchinson.

Editing Department: Supervising

Editor, Ralph Kemplen; Editor, Gerry
Hambling; 1st Assistant, Tony Gibbs;
Other Assistant, Norma Bremson.

Production Department: Production
Manager, Robert Sterne; 1st Assistant
Director, Jack Causey; 2nd Assistant
Director, David Bracknell; 3rd Assis-
tant Director, Otto Plaschkes; Con-
tinuity, Doreen Francis; Production
Secretary, Doris Prince.

Stills Department: Still Cameraman,
Eric Gray.

Special Processes: Brian Langley, Reg
Johnson (Travelling Matte).

Publicity Director: Lilana Wilkie.

MY WIFE'S FAMILY

Year of Production: 1956.

Studio: Associated British Elstree
Studios.

Laboratory: Denham Laboratory.

Producing Company: Forth Films Ltd.

Producer: H. G. Inglis.

Stars: Ronald Shiner, Ted Ray, Greta
Gynt, Robertson Hare.

Director: Gilbert Gunn.

Sci narists: Talbot Rothwell, Gilbert
Gunn.

Camera Department: Lighting Camera-
man, Gilbert Taylor; Camera Opera-
tor, Val Stewart; 1st Camera Assis-
tant (Focus), Peter Hendry; Other
Camera Assistants. T. Cole, K. Pike.
M. Arnold.

.Sound Department: Recordist (Mixer).
A. Bradburn; Sound Camera Opera-
tors, L. Grimmell. J. Young; Boom
Operator, D. Macfarlane; Boom Assis-
tant, 1'. Nicholson: Other Assistant.
S. Conley; Dubbing Crew, Len
Shilton, D. Grimmell, L. Abbott,
J. Young, M. Bradbury.

Art Department : Art Director, Uol.oM
Jones ; Draughtsmen, J. Jones, G.
Kirhardson; Dress Designer, Anna
Duse.

Editing Department: Editor, E. B.
Jarvis; 1st Assistant, Miss J. New-
son; Other Assistant, Miss I. Ibbet-
son; Dubbing Editor, Miss Phil
Woods.

Production Department: Production
Manager and /or Unit Production
Manager, Gerry Mitchell; 1st Assis
tant Director. " Frederic Goode; 2nd
Assistant Director, Jeremy Summers;
3rd Assistant Director, Michai I
Profit; Continuity, Pam Gayler; Pro-
duction Secretary, J. Parcell.

Stills Department: Still Cameraman.
R. Pilgrim.

Publicity Department: Publicity Direc-
tor, Jean Garioch.

ZARAK

Year of Production: 1955/56.

Studio: M.G.M. Studios. Elstree.

Laboratory: Technicolor.

Producing Company: Warwick Film
Productions Ltd.

Producer: Phil C. Samuel.

Stars: Victor Mature. Anita Ekberg,
Michael Wilding.

Director: Terence Young.

Associate Directors: Yakima Cannut.
John Gilling, Richard Maibaum.

Camera Department: Lighting Camera-
men, John Wilcox, Ted Moore, Cyril
Knowles; Camera Operators, Denys
Coope, Ernest Day, Ray Sturgess;
1st Camera Assistants (Focus), Ronnie
Maasz, Alan Hall; Other Camera
Assistants, Peter Hall, Cere Davies.
Alf Hicks, Dickie Robinson, Alex
Thompson, Roy Ford.

Sound Department: Recordists (Mixer),
Peter Davies, Gerry Turner; Sound
Camera Operators, Al Thorne, Peter
Day; Boom Operators, Jim Whiting,
Derek Kavanagh; Boom Assistant,
Jefrey Bernard; Other Assistants
(Maintenance), E. Stoneham, Brian
Hunter, N. T. Stephenson; Dubbing
Crew, J. B. Smith, John Bramall:
Camera Maintenance, Ron Ford.

Art Department: Art Directors, John
Box, Bill Andrews; Assistant Art
Director, Sid Cain; Draughtsmen,
Wallis Smith, Alec Gray, Kenneth
Tait; Dress Designer, Phyllis Dalton.

Editing Department: Supervising

Editor, Alan Osbiston; Editor, Bert
Rule; Assembly Cutter, Geoffrey
Botterill; 1st Assistant, Ivor Selwyn;
Other Assistant, Peter Elliott; Dub-
bing Editors, Don Saunders, Malcolm
Cooke; Dubbing Assistant, Ivor Sel-
wyn (after final cut).

Production Department: Production
Managers and/or Unit Production
Managers, John Palmer, Henry Ged-
des; 1st Assistant Directors, Jack
Martin, Bluey Hill, Frank Hollands.
Robert Lynn; 2nd Assistant Directors.
Tom Sachs, Bert Pearl, Dennis Hall:
3rd Assistant Directors, Peter Len-
nard, John Pitcher, Joe Marks;
Location Managers, John Pellatt,
Robert Navarro, Douglas Twiddy:
Continuity, Pamela Davies, Kav
Rawlings; Production Secretaries.
Beti Parry, Mary Timewell.

Stills Department: Still Cameraman.
Bert Cann.

Special Processes: Special Effects
Director, Jack Erickson; Special
Effects Supervisor, Cliff Richardson :
Travelling Mattes. Tommy Howard.

Public it ii Department: Publicity Direc-
tor, Anthony Howard.

Casting: Nora Roberts.

THE IRON PETTICOAT

Year of Production: 1955/56.

Studio: Pinewood Studios, Iver Heath.
Bucks.

Laboratory: Technicolor.

Producing Company : Remus Films Ltd.

Producer: Betty E. Box.

Stars: Bob Hope. Katherine Hepburn.

Director: Ralph Thomas.

Camera Department : Lighting Camera-
man, Ernest Steward; Camera Opera-
tor. H. A. R. Thomson; 1st Camera
Assistant (Focus), Steve Clayton:
Other Camera Assistant (Loader).
Jack Hickson.

Sound Department: Recordist (Mixer),
John Mitchell: Sound Camera Opera
tor, R. Butcher; Boom Operator.
J. W. N. Daniel; Boom Assistant.
R. Charman : Dubbing Crew. G K.
McCallum, W. Daniels, C. Le Mes-
surier.

Art Department: Art Director, Carmen

Dillon; Draughtsman, Ernest Archer;
Dress Designer, Yvonne Caffin.

Editing Department: Editor, Frederick
Wilson; 1st Assistant, John Cooke;
Other Assistants, Geoffrey Fry, Paula
Devenish; Dubbing Editor, Roger
Cherrill.

Production Department: Production
Manager and /or Unit Production
Manager, R. Dennis Holt; 1st Assis-
tant Director, James H. Ware ; 2nd
Assistant Director, Bert Batt : 3rd
Assistant Director. Pat Clayton ; Con-
tinuity, Joan Davis; Assistant Con-
tinuity, Penny Daniels; Production
Secretary, Jean Forbes.

Stills Department: Still Cameraman,
Norman Gryspeerdt.

Publicity Director: George Mason.

CHECKPOINT

Year of Production: 1956.

Studio: Pinewood.

Laboratory: Rank Laboratories (Den-
ham) Limited.

Producing Company: Rank Organisa-
tion Film Production Limited.

Producer: Betty E. Box.

Production Controller: Arthur Alcott.

Stars: Anthony Steele, Odile Versois,
James Robertson Justice, Stanley
Baker.

Director: Ralph Thomas.

Scenarist: Robin Estridge.

Camera Department : Lighting Camera-
man. Ernest Steward; Camera Opera-
tor, H. A. R. Thomson; 1st Camera
Assistants (Focus), John Morgan,
J. Alcott (Location); Other Camera
Assistant, Joe Levy.

Sound Department: Recordist (Mixer),
O. C. Stevens; Sound Camera Opera-
tor, E. J. Karnon ; Boom Operator,
Gus Lloyd; Boom Assistant, Ken
Reynolds: Dubbing Crew, Gordon K.
McCallum, W. Daniels, C. Le Mes-
surier; Music, Ted Drake; Main-
tenance (Location), Peter Glover.

Art Department: Art Director, Carmen
Dillon; Assistant Art Director (Set),
Dario Simoni; Draughtsman (Chief),
Ernie Archer; Dress Designer,
Anthony Mendleson.

Editing Department; Editor, Freddie
Wilson ; Associate Editor, Roger
Cherrill ; 1st Assistants, Geoff. Fry.
Stan Fiferman; Other Assistant,
Paula Devenish; Dubbing Editors,
Arthur Ridout, Eric Boyd-Perkins;
Dubbing Assistant, Graham Harris.

Production Department: Production
Manager, Denis Holt; 1st Assistant
Director, Bert Batt: 2nd Assistant
Director, Maurice Gibson: 3rd Assis-
tant Director, Joe Marks; Location
Manager, Jimmy Ware; Continuity.
Gladys Goldsmith; Production Sec-
retary. Pauline Kernick.

Stills Department: Still Cameraman.

Ian .leaves

Special Processes : W. Warrington.

Bert Marshall. Frank George.
Publicity Department: Unit Publicist.

Gerry Lewis.

CORRECTIONS

PORT AFRIQUE & CIRCUS FRIENDS

The credits for these two films should
have read : Second Unit Cameraman —
Ian Struthers (not Second Camera
Operator).

HOME AND AWAY

The credits for this film should have
read: Dubbing Crew — R. Colwell, and
not R. Coldw.-ll.

March 1957

FILM & TV TECHNICIAN

EDITORIAL

WE SHALL MOVE FORWARD

TOGETHER

PROBLEMS arising from the rapid and ever-
continuing growth of Television, concern
over trends toward monopoly in the film industry
and a serious preoccupation with the mainten-
ance of the standards of British film production
were among the outstanding features of the
Annual General Meeting.

In particular the debate on TV organisation
was noteworthy for a number of reasons. In
the first place this was the first A.G.M. at which
there was a substantial representation of
members working in the Television field and it
became evident from the outset that they are
determined to see that trade unionism becomes
as strong in this field as it is already in the realm
of film production. As the President stressed in
his opening address, it is certain that in the
years ahead there is going to be some shift of
emphasis in the work of A.C.T.T.

As was natural in a debate on this subject
there were criticisms of what has already been
done and of some of the things that have not
yet been done. But the point that emerged
strongly from the discussions was that there are
no fundamental differences between our Film
and Television members. At bedrock the prob-
lems of workers in Television and workers in
Film are the same. We are, in fact, all members
of one union, we are all working in one big
industry, the entertainment industry, and it was
generally realised and accepted as a matter of
course by all speakers that only in unity can we
march forward together.

The Television debate will leave the incoming
General Council in no doubt whatever of the view
of members and should serve materially to
strengthen their hands in the work that lies
ahead both of organisation and of negotiation
for agreements on the Television side of the
industry. Our TV members, too, will be in no
doubt that in whatever struggles lie before them
they can count on the understanding and on the
support of their colleagues working in the film
studios and the laboratories.

The solidarity of members in widely different
sections and branches was shown once again

when the Meeting came to consider, and to pass
with acclaim, an emergency resolution tabled by
the General Council reflecting the concern of
members in the Laboratories and working on
the Newsreels at the growth of monopoly ten-
dencies in the industry. The disappearance of
newsreels and the swallowing up of laboratories
was most clearly felt to be a matter for con-
tinual vigilance for all members of the Union.
The General Council will have this question con-
tinually in its mind during the coming year.

On the question of promoting the highest tech-
nical and artistic standards in British film pro-
duction there was some very lively debate in
which it was heartening to hear a number of
younger members — younger, that is, in years,
though by no means necessarily in period of
membership — making important contributions to
the discussion.

Once again, as there must be in every Annual
General Meeting. if it is hot to be clogged by
complacency, there were differences of opinion,
in this case not so much on objects as on the
best methods of achieving them, and in this
particular debate the eloquence and sincerity of
the movers and supporters of the resolution gave
them the distinction of defeating the General
Council by a narrow margin.

The keynote of the discussions throughout the
A.G.M. as a whole was the determination of all
members, whatever differences of view there
might be between them on individual points, to go
forward in 1957 to consolidate and strengthen
the Union's position in every field and to protect
the living standards of the workers in the in-
dustry against any attacks whether by individual
employers or groups of employers, or arising
from legislation by the Government itself.

FILM & TV TECHNICIAN

Editor: MARTIN CHISHOLM

Editorial Office:

2 SOHO SQUARE, W.l (GERrard 8506)

Advertisement Office:

5 & 6 RED LION SQ., W.C.I (HOLborn 4972)

FILM & TV TECHNICIAN

March 1957

TV7ITH the A.G.M. over and the
" dust of controversy, tempor-
arily at least, settling, it is happy
to recall the personalities and the
human side of the meeting- and to
forget for a week or two whether
this or that amendment won or
lost the day.

The real highlight for everyone
came when George Elvin made his
entrance, looking and sounding in
the best of health and spirits. It is
to be hoped that it will not be
long now before his recovery is
complete and permanent.

New Faces

There will be several new faces
on the Executive Committee this
year. Bill Whittimore comes in to
reinforce his Laboratory colleagues.
Bill is our steward at George
Humphries and has represented the
Union on many committees and at
many conferences.

Walter Lassaly and Lindsay
Anderson are particularly well
known on the short film side —
Walter particularly receiving high
tribute for his photography on The
Girl in Black, the Greek film cur-
rently showing at the Curzon.
Lindsay Anderson — occasional film
critic of the " New Statesman "-
had one of the films he directed,
O Dreamland, in the brief Free
Cinema season at the National
Film Theatre last year.

Derek Twist, the director, of
course needs little introduction to
members. He has played a leading
part in Union affairs, particularly
in the Producers-Directors' Section,
for many years.

This year is the first in the
Union's history that Television has
had any specific representation of
its own — Desmond Davis becomes
the first TV Vice-President. Tony
Shine, our Associated Rediffusion
shop steward, was elected to the
Commercial Television seat. Tony
has been one of the Union's leading
negotiators on the Programme
Contractors' Agreement (and will
be for many months to come!).
From the B.B.C. comes Harold
Clayton, a director of long stand-
ing, and for the past year Chair-
man of the TV Producers-Directors'
Section.

Meetings and meetings and . . .

A thought for those stalwarts
who have served on the General
Council and Executive Committee
for many years. One often won-
ders, as a cross is cheerfully put by
a name, if it is appreciated what a
commitment election can be. At
least one evening meeting a week
(E.C. or Gen. Council) — a section
meeting once a month — that is the
bare minimum. But a week never
passes without an additional com-
mittee — be it legislation, feature,
shorts or one of the negotiating
committees, A.C.T. Films, or Jour-
nal. In February three E.C. mem-
bers spent three Saturdays and a
Sunday poring over the clauses of
the TV draft agreement. Consider
that a fair proportion of the E.C.
are shop stewards as well, and you
have some idea of the time, labour
and responsibility involved in being
a voluntary official. And I have
probably forgotten a whole legion
of duties expected of an Executive
Member!

Golden Rule

" Newsweek " has an interesting
article on Dave Beck and Jimmy
Hoffa, the two heads of the U.S.
Teamster's Union
— rough equiva-
lent of our Trans-
port and General
Workers' Union
( and the largest
union in the
U.S.A.)— Beckhas
a $50,000 home
and from all ac-
counts has been a
tough customer
since his child-
hood. He once an-
nounced that several thousand of
his members were taking ju-jitsu
lessons "for their health". His No. 2,
Jimmy Hoffa, it seems, is an even
rougher, tougher customer. He is
reputed to have said once, " I was
hit so many times with clubs,
sticks and brass knuckle-dusters
I can't even remember where the
bruises are." According to " News-
week " Hoffa's own version of the
Golden Rule, learned during a
tough childhood, is " Do unto
others — first."

Leisurely . . . ?

I'm no expert on the Russian
film industry, but I was struck by
an article in the current issue of
" Soviet Union " which described
the making of Shokolov's Quit t
Flows the Don. Whatever other
worries the Russian producers may
have, a tight schedule doesn't seem
to be one of them. Interviewed on
location, producer Sergie Gerasi-
mov said, " We shall spend all the
winter and spring on the Don, then
return to Moscow for the studio
shooting. In summer we plan to
make a fresh expedition to the Don
region." A nice location !

Stop-press . . .!

Head Office found itself inundated
with trunk-calls from Manchester
one afternoon a couple of weeks
ago. The press had heard there
was to a dramatic " one-minute
strike " in Granada Television.
Our Granada shop
steward Gavin Wad-
dell took the brunt
of the press chase.
When all was said
and done the press
had picked up the
conversation of an
enthusiastic member
with ideas about
what should happen
if the Programme
Contractors would
not come to terms
with the Union on a
national agreement.
Strike or no strike, the Manchester
press now have a lively interest in
the local A.C.T.T. Granada is one
of our best organised Television
shops, and is already actively nego-
tiating with the management on a
wide range of issues. A large dele-
gation came from Manchester to
the A.G.M.

Thank You, Mr. Preminger

Our grateful thanks go to Mr.
Otto Preminger who has gener-
ouslv agreed to place the proceeds
of the British Premiere of his pro-
duction of St. Joan at the disposal
of the Benevolent Funds of
A.C.T.T., E.T.U. and N.A.T.K.E.

ItfC^

A.C.T.T. badges and brooches can
be obtained from Head Office.
Badges 2/-, brooches 2/4, post free.

March 1957

FILM & TV TECHNICIAN

Shorts & Documentary
Section

Steve Cox Writes :

The latest of our ' Get-together"
evenings on "The Films We Make"
was held on Tuesday, February
19th at the Mezzanine Cinema,
Shell Mex House. Once again it
proved a successful and well-
supported venture. Three films
were shown, all made for theatri-
cal distribution.

The first film, Do You Remem-
ber, sponsored by the British
Transport Commission, was intro-
duced by Director Tony Thompson.

Designed for general audiences
and employees of London Trans-
port, it explained, in a very light-
hearted manner, the workings of
the Lost Property Dept. of the
L.P.T.B..

The second film, Pit Incident,
sponsored by the Coal Board and
introduced by Alun Falconer, was
a theatrical version of a longer
training film, made by the Coal
Board's Safety Branch, based on an
actual pit fire.

The third film. Foothold in
Antarctica, sponsored by the Bri-
tish Petroleum Company, was
made by World Wide Pictures, and
introduced by Director-Camera-
man Derek Williams. This was a
colour film, about 25 r r of it " blow-
up " from Kodachrome, the rest
in Eastmancolour, showing the
first journey of the Commonwealth
Trans-Antarctic Expedition led by
Dr. Vivian Fuchs to set up its
Base in the Weddell Sea.

Ideas on Technique

In the course of the discussion
that followed the showing of the
films some interesting ideas on
technique came up. Tony Thomp-
son explained that his film was in-
tended to be of a humorous
nature, and that the personnel of
the Lost Property Office were very
helpful and co-operative. Someone
suggested that the film gave the
impression that we could now lose
things more confidently.

Alun Falconer explained how the
" Incident " in the mining film was
rigged and how the miners them-
selves thought that the "fire squad"
took everything too calmly.

Derek Williams said he thought
films came into two categories :
" films that you control and films
that control you." Foothold in
Antarctica came in the second
category, because one " shot " as
one went and knocked it into shape

Lab Topics

■By

A If Cooper

The A.G.M. again gave many of
our members an opportunity to
chat with old friends who, owing to
various changes of jobs, do not
meet in the course of the year.
This year I felt that apart from
the hardy annuals many fresh
faces appeared and those wearing
a television hat certainly knew
why they came and just what they
require from their Union and their
employers in the coming year. We
in the Laboratories certainly wish
them every success and support.

The problem worrying the labs —
the growth of monopoly control in
the industry — had a very good
hearing at the meeting, and the
emergency resolution instructing
the new General Council to watch
and combat this problem was adop-
ted in full.

Kodak

The problem of Trade Union
recognition by Kodak Limited
again came in for some very hard
words and the membership gave
everybody to understand that it
takes a very bad view of American
firms trading in this country and
giving the unions the brush-off,
and most certainly expects the
next Annual Report to show a
marked improvement in this situa-
tion, in fact, complete recognition
of A.C.T.T. by Kodak.

I have often wondered why firms
that are up against trade unions
are not automatically boycotted by
all workers up and down the
country. Most workers are mem-
bers of trade unions and a little
personal effort by each of us
against these companies would
have a very good effect.

George Plays Truant

To those members who did not
attend the A.G.M. let me say that
if they had the impression it would
be dull owing to the absence of
our General Secretary they were
very wrong because, apart from
the very able way Bert Craik filled
the breach, George Elvin was able
to play truant from hospital and
spend a few hours with us during
Sunday, and indeed was up on his
feet on a couple of occasions lead-
ing forth as only George can. The
fact that George was able to attend
this meeting is a sign he is on the
right road to good health, a fact
that the whole membership is very
thankful for.

To all Laboratory Shop Stewards:
Will you please start right away
sending in your reports for inclu-
sion in the April issue of the
Journal. Thanks.

afterwards. One of the draw-backs
of this type of film was that the
director did not see his rushes.

Must Persuade Sponsors

The general feeling at the end of
the discussion was that sponsors
must be persuaded into broader
and better films and that producers
with " guts " were needed to put
the true points over.

It is clear from the interest
shown at the meetings that there is
a real demand for them, so please
come along to the next one with
your idea as to the type of show

you would like, and let the Com-
mittee know what it is.

I would like to thank Dennis
Segaller for his assistance in com-
piling this report.

Now for some news, Norman
Hemsley tells me that Cameraman
Norman Johnson, and Dickie Lorri-
more were leaving for New Guinea
on March 13th on the Whispering
Giant to shoot some material for
the British Petroleum Company.
They hoped to spend one night in
Sydney on the way. I understand
that Norman was taking a New-
man and a spare spring. I wasn't
told if he was taking any film!

FILM & TV TECHNICIAN

March 1957

THE ANNUAL GENERAL MEETING

President's Speech

THE growth of Television and the
shift in emphasis that this
would entail in the future work of
A.C.T.T. were stressed by the
President in his address opening
the Twenty-fourth Annual General
Meeting, which was held at the
Beaver Hall, Garlick Hill, on
March 9th and 10th.

Until now the production of films
for showing in cinemas had been
our main preoccupation, the Presi-
dent said.

The recent figures of over 6i
million television licence-holders in
the United Kingdom showed the
rapid growth of what the film die-
hards still called a competitor but
which we, with members operating
in both fields, should and must
call an ally.

" I hope," the President con-
tinued, " that instead of continuing
to snarl at each other cinema and
television will get together and see
how they can be complementary. I
realise many headaches will have
to be endured meanwhile.

" Our friends the musicians will
recall how it was said the radio
would kill the demand for the live
orchestra. But the result has in
l':irt been a stimulus. I believe that
with wisdom on both sides the
same beneficial results can be
achieved in the effect of the growth
of television on cinema going."

Referring to the responsibilities
which Television entailed, the
President said : " Many of us, and
indeed our Union officially, whilst
welcoming the employment which
independent television provides,
were highly critical of the Govern-
ment policy which established
alternative programmes to the
B.B.C. in their present form.

" Experience to date has obliged
us to pinpoint the almost com-
plete failure of the Programme
Contractors to fulfil their obliga-
tions to put out a balanced pro-
gramme, and we are alarmed at
the generally low standard and
trivial content of independent tele-
vision. Money has been spent
mainly on those types of pro-
gramme calculated to attract a
majority audience, which we fore-
saw was bound to happen if adver-
tisers had to be relied upon to pay
for the programmes.

Ever-decreasing Quality

" As a statement recently issued
by the General Council said, wo,
representing the creative workers
in this field, are of the strong
opinion that immediate steps
should be taken to stem the ten-
dency towards an ever decreasing
quality and its consequent effect on
public taste, and that the enormous
power of commercial television
should not merely be used for
frivolous entertainment."

Turning from Television to the
Government's Cinematograph Films

Bill now before Parliament, the
President said : " Let me say right
away that we welcome the Bill
because it will preserve and
strengthen British film production.
But it has a number of short-
comings."

Shortcomings of Bill

Whilst it was good that the Bri-
tish Film Production Fund had
been put on a compulsory basis,
the method of deciding each year's
amount would hamper and not en-
courage production. The annual
levy might be anywhere between
£2 million and £5 million. There
was no indication as to where be-
tween these two extremes the
actual figure each year would fall.
The low figure was clearly inade-
quate and the top figure, although
an improvement on the present
level, was only somewhere near
the mark of the industry's needs
if production remained at its pre-
sent level and cost.

One of the shortcomings of the
present voluntary scheme, which
was repeated in the new Bill, was
that it tended to restrict rather
than increase production because
the Fund was a fixed figure and
therefore the greater the number
of films produced, the less was the
levy available to the producer of
each film. The President hoped
that during the passage of the Bill
through Parliament there would be
clarification as to how the amount
of the Fund was to be ascertained

March 1957

FILM & TV TECHNICIAN

STEPHEN SWINGLER, M.P., A.C.T.T.'s GUEST OF HONOl R

each year and also that the size of
the Fund each year would be suffi-
cient to ensure that the producer
of all but the unfortunate flop will
recover his production costs.

The question of advance notice
as to the size of the Fund for each
ensuing year was also important if
production was to be properly
planned.

The Quota Act

We were unanimous in welcom-
ing the provisions in the Bill for
keeping the National Film Finance
Corporation alive and providing
for the Quota Act to run for a
further ten years, but we were
equally unanimous in condemning
the intention of the Government to
let the Quota Act continue un-
changed in substance.

All sections of the industry had
numerous points to put forward
for improving the Act and some of
them were of vital importance if
the protection of the next ten years
is to do the job it is intended to do.

" I am therefore glad that fol-
lowing pressure from the unions
and producers we shall now have
an opportunity to put forward
amendments for consideration. But
it is regrettable that it is the Gov-
ernment's intention that the Bill
should go through unamended in
substance and we have to wait till
an unnamed future date for amend-
ing legislation to the Quota Act."

There was developing, quite
legally under the wording of the
present Act, a position whereby
pictures were made for British

Quota which scarcely employed
anybody from the United Kingdom.
Films made under the stimulus of
a United Kingdom Act of Parlia-
ment should employ predominantly
United Kingdom labour and be
processed in United Kingdom
laboratories. Therefore a new defi-
nition of a British film was one of
the main amendments we require.

Whole Basis Wrong

We also wanted an abolition of
the position of our films being a
junior partner to American films.
The whole basis of the present Act
was wrong whereby we were
graciously permitted to have shown
in British cinemas a relatively
small number of films, the actual
number of which rose or fell
according to the number of Ameri-
can films shown. Let us start on
the assumption of British films be-
ing the dominating factor in a
British market, the foreign films
shown being a stipulated quota
based on our own product.

We wanted, too, authority for
the State to acquire a circuit of
cinemas equal in size and booking
power to the present main cir-
cuits. A third circuit would ensure
the fair distribution and showing
of independent productions.

The President welcomed the in-
itiative of Mr. John Davis in pro-
posing the meetings now being
held between the British Film Pro-
ducers' Association and N.A.T.K.E.,
E.T.U. and A.C.T.T. In the past,
efforts to discuss industry prob-
lems, other than salaries and work-

ing conditions, on such a joint
basis had petered out in failure.
This new effort started off by an
appreciation that the interests of
producers and employees were
either identical on a number of
key issues or at least so close to
each other as to make co-operation
possible. Some of the matters
which the President touched on had
been covered in these discussions
and he was sure that if these talks
continued in the spirit in which
they have been started nothing but
good could come from them. But
at the same time neither side must
expect that because there were
these talks on common ground, one
side or the other would be expected
to soft-pedal on legitimate claims
in other directions.

International Federation

One of the disappointments of
the post-war world had been the
failure to establish any inter-
national federation of film techni-
cians. We had always maintained
friendly relations with technicians
of other countries and, indeed,
there had been some extension in
our contacts during the past year.
But the split in the international
Trade Union Movement had, if not
entirely responsible, been a main
obstacle in bringing technicians of
all countries into close association.
Since the Annual Report was pre-
pared A.C.T.T. had received an in-
vitation to attend a conference con-
vened by the International Con-
federation of Free Trade Unions to

(Continued on page 40)

FILM & TV TECHNICIAN

March 1957

President

(Continued)

consider once again the establish-
ment of an International Federa-
tion of Entertainment Workers. In
principle we naturally welcomed
the move but the General Council
had reaffirmed its policy that
A.C.T.T. could only associate with
any such federation provided it was
of an all-embracing character. In
the same way as film technicians
joined our union whatever their
personal politics so we demanded
the right to co-operate inter-
nationally with the film workers
of all other countries whatever
their personal or their parent
organisation's politics.

" Our friends the actors and
musicians are members of inter-
national federations operating
under this principle. We support
them and will not join any federa-
tion which rules to the contrary.
We want to be equally friendly and
co-operative with film workers of
America, the Soviet Union, West-
ern and Eastern Europe and
throughout the world, and whilst
there are big political differences
between the Trade Union centres
in these countries, we hold they
should not be carried down to tech-
nical and professional level. There
is enough division in the world
without film technicians refusing
to speak to film technicians."

" I doubt if the Government will
any longer try to talk the jargon
of wage restraint, but even if it
still feels so inclined it could well
save its breath as the entire British
Trade Union Movement has made
clear that it is not going to stand

by and see the standard of living
of its members deteriorate. I know
you wholeheartedly endorse this
determination and the incoming
General Council will not be back-
ward in putting forward the neces-
sary demands."

" ON" PAROLE "

George Elvin, out of hospital for a few hours, chats with

the President and Stephen Swingler

Hectic Year Ahead

Matters had been relatively quiet
on the negotiating front during the
past year but it seemed certain
that this year would be hectic.
" The Government's policy," the
President said, " makes wage de-
mands inevitable. The higher
rents, as a result of the Rent Bill,
the increases in the cost of school
dinners and children's milk, the in-
creased insurance contributions and
higher prescription charges, and
the whole pattern of Government
policy will impose burdens on our
members and their families which
will make wage demands inevit-
able. Yet at the same time the
Government hastens to impose
these burdens it talks but does
nothing about the £1,500 million a
year defence bill.

" Economies in this direction
would not only provide all the
revenue and more which the Gov-
ernment aims to obtain by its
attacks on the social services but
would also make it possible to
undo the effect of other burdens
they have imposed on us previous
to their recent pronouncements.

A MAKESHIFT BILL

CTEPHEN SWINGLER, M.P., who
^ was A.C.T.T.'s guest of honour,
described the Government's Film
Bill as " a very makeshift and un-
inspiring effort, a very dreary re-
production of past palliatives."

" It comes," he said, " of rather
weak parentage, and it has cer-
tainly had a premature birth.
Frankly, I hope that the Unions in
the industry are going to kick up
a hell of a row about amendments
to the quota system.

" I see absolutely no reason why
the Government should have re-
produced, after all these years of
experience, an unamended repeti-
tion of the Quota Act, since they
are in possession of all the results
of your labours and the labours of
others that took place last year,
although we who sit in the House
have not, of course, had the benefit
we should have had of having seen
a it-port and recommendations of

the National Film Finance Cor-
poration after all the consultations
and discussions last year. I think
that makes it even more important
that you should kick up a row and
we on the Committee shall cer-
tainly do our best in that direction.

" I welcome very much the
widening area of agreement which
has developed in this industry
about matters of taxation and pro-
duction amongst the unions and I
look forward to this widening area
of agreement on what should be
done about film production and the
taxation of the cinemas having its
political impact. But there has to
be much more pressure yet before
that can come to fruition.

" The trouble with Government
policy on films is a fundamental
one and we need today a new and
honest approach to the whole sub-
ject. There is a lot of bunk being
talked at the moment about free
trade. The question is — freedom

March 1957

FILM & TV TECHNICIAN

for whom? Of course everybody
wants to see trade barriers between
countries being broken down but
we don't want to see it done at the
expense of killing our own produc-
tion and killing our own industry,
and it is clear to those of us who
are not completely blind that
laissez-faire capitalism would per-
manently limit us to the position
of Hollywood's 49th (or is it 50th?)
market. And the outlook of boom
or bust in this industry would be
fatal to British films.

"I believe that Britain is entitled
to claim for British filming, as we
claim for British farming, guaran-
teed and expanding markets, fair
returns to producers and full em-
ployment for the workers in the in-
dustry, and we should constantly
press upon our political represen-
tatives who go to international
trade negotiations that they should
stand up openly and honestly for
the rights of the Government in
this country to subsidise British
film production and to give special
tax relief to the exhibitors to en-
courage them to make British
showings.

No Museum Piece

" We don't want just to preserve
the British film industry as a static
museum piece. We want to see an
expanding industry and a fostering
of the best talent we have.

" The Government takes enough
money out of cinemas and they
should put more of that money
back into production, and put it
back directly in my opinion. That
is why I want to see enlarged the
agitation for a state film corpora-
tion in Britain and for a national
circuit of cinemas because, in my
view, these are the only ways in
which we can ensure full employ-
ment in the industry and its ex-
pansion.

" Your industry, like all industry,
depends in the last resort on the
living standards of the people who
go to the cinemas, and we are not
going to maintain the habit of
cinema-going or maintain the pay-
ments on the purchase of TV sets
by a policy that takes profits out
of the pockets of the poor and puts
bigger profits in the pockets of
the stockholders and landlords."

Mr. Swingler said he was con-
stantly told one must not raise
certain questions because it would
annoy America at international
trade conferences. " That is why,"
he said, " we are told we should
not raise the question of state
subsidy for film production, or
special tax relief for encouraging
home production because it would
be contrary to G.A.T.T. and Holly-
wood would not like it."

Members in Debate

Below are summarised some of the more important debates on
individual A.G.M. Resolutions

TV ORGANISATION

One of the most important items
on the A.G.M. Agenda was the
resolution (No. 18) on Television
Organisation moved by John War-
rington.

This resolution noted the excel-
lent work accomplished in the field
of television, particularly in regard
to the new draft Agreement and
the formation of the Television
Branch. It asked the incoming
General Council :

(a) to be unremitting in its TV
recruitment drive;

(b) periodically to circularise all
television members with a
bulletin informing them of
the working being done on
their behalf; and

Not A New Medium

Moving on behalf of the TV Pro-
ducer/Directors' Section John War-
rington stressed that TV was not
a new medium. It was over 20
years old. It had been a major
part of entertainment for 10 years,
had been a tremendous industry for
five years, and two years ago com-
mercial television was in operation.
It was not a toy or a Government
play-thing.

He calculated that the output of
Independent Television in London
alone was equivalent to nearly 40

" We have a Government that
was prepared to defy Washington
on certain important things and to
accuse other governments of pur-
suing evil policies in other cases,
but it is not, apparently, prepared
to ' go it alone ' in the right direc-
tion. I think that to stand up for
a state subsidy for British films
would be a right policy. I think
that to introduce a discriminatory
taxation relief for British films
would be a good way of standing
up for British national indepen-
dence."

first feature films per week. The
staff needed for television was suffi-
cient to make nearly 12,000 feature
films per year.

The staff were young and en-
thusiastic. They were Directors,
Cameramen, Engineers and Sound
Technicians, all with the ideal of
putting out the best programme
that they were allowed to put out
by a very unambitious B.B.C. or
advertising executives, but these
young people knew nothing about
A.C.T.T.

One Indivisible Union

While raising this criticism John
Warrington stressed at the same
time that " We are one Union, in-
divisible. We are not against
A.C.T.T., we are fighting on your
behalf." He then referred to
struggles against the Association
of Broadcasting Staffs, and de-
clared that its real aim was to pre-
vent any extension of A.C.T.T. "We
are fighting not only the B.B.C,
not only the Contractors, but those
who are well organised and are
determined to prevent the exten-
sion of our Union."

He urged the need for increasing
the staff of A.C.T.T. in order to
provide a full-time first class
Organiser for Television.

He also stressed the need for
continual publicity regarding what
A.C.T.T. was doing in the Tele-
vision field.

Monthly Visits Urged

Vivian Milroy, seconding, urged
that the provincial centres should
be visited by an Organiser at least
once a month. He was critical of
the amount of information on Tele-
vision in the Journal and urged the
need for a bulletin being issued to
every single member at least once
a month to inform them of what
was going on. It was very likely,
he added, that there were good
reasons why negotiations for a
Television Agreement should have
taken over a year and still no final
agreement had been reached, but
(Continued on page 42)

FILM & TV TECHNICIAN

March 1957

A.G.M.

(Continued)

people in the industry were un-
happy about it, thinking it had
been shelved or forgotten. If they
had been told of what was being
done, or if that was difficult, even
of the number of meetings that
had been held they would at least
know what was going on.

Desmond Davis, agreeing with
the mover and seconder, said our
record over this Agreement had
not been good but there were very
good reasons for this, and it was
no good belly-aching about the
past. He, too, urged the need for a
" cracking good Organiser ".

Organise in the Shops

Leon Clore said one could not
always put in resolutions to the in-
coming General Council and Ex-
ecutive giving them the respon-
sibility for the drive for member-
ship; that was really the respon-
sibility of people on the floor. One
could not always refer it back. He
stressed the need for organising
in the Shops themselves.

Kurt Lewenhak stressed that
A.C.T.T. was a national union with
nation-wide responsibilities, and it
must organise as such. He, too,
strongly urged the need for
monthly visits to provincial centres
and suggested that it might be
possible for A.C.T.T. to establish
some kind of regional office which
could be used as a base for an
Organiser who could cover Bir-
mingham, Manchester and Scot-
land.

Alf Cooper welcomed the new
blood and fresh faces in A.C.T.T.
and the enthusiasm of the Tele-
vision members. He agreed that
they needed staff representation
from Head Office and the support
of the General Council. He referred
to early experiences in the Labora-
tories and Studios and urged that
members in TV " must fight like
hell ", and then at the next A.G.M.
they would not be talking about
getting an agreement but about
getting improvements in the agree-
ment they had obtained in the
meantime.

The resolution, which was sup-
ported by the General Council, was
carried unanimously.

TV AGREEMENT

Another resolution on Television
(No. 17), moved by Desmond Davis,
reaffirmed A.C.T.T.'s policy of
100% membership in the appro-
priate grades in television, noted
that negotiations between the Pro-
gramme Contractors and A.C.T.T.
were progressing but regretted the

delay in coming to a final agree-
ment. It also drew the attention
of the Postmaster-General and the
T.U.C. to the fact that the B.B.C.
still refused to recognise A.C.T.T. in
the Television field. The resolution
pledged wholehearted support to
the incoming General Council and
the Television membership in any
action deemed necessary for the
establishment of Trade Union stan-
dards in this field of work. Moving
the resolution, Desmond Davis said

OFFICERS ELECTED
FOR 1957

President: Anthony Asquith

Vice-Presidents :

Max Anderson
Alf Cooper
Sidney Cole
Desmond Davis
Terry O'Brien
Charles Wheeler

Treasurer: Frank Fuller

General Council:

Ralph Bond
Chris Brunei
Kenneth Gordon
Desmond Dickinson
Walter Lassally
Fred Swann
Lindsay Anderson
Derek Twist
Monica Toye
George Irons
Len Runkel
Ray Sharpe
Sid Bremson
Bill Whittemore
Harold Clayton
Tony Shine
Ken Roberts

Trustees:

Geoffrey Bell
Basil Wright

the membership strength in Tele-
vision was growing apace but one
must not be content with less than
100% membership. They must
work hard, then they could talk
real turkey, and they wanted to
talk. They must have a well-
organised recruiting drive and they
must have missionary zeal from
individual members. " It is up to
you personally to get this 100' ;
membership," he said. Referring to
the negotiations for an agreement
with the Programme Contractors
he said this was a matter of the
most ghastly complexity. It was
not a question of an agreement

with one organisation but with five
separate organisations, each with a
different method of working and a
different scale of pay and different
grades. " So we never know what
the devil we're talking about."
Referring to the B.B.C.'s refusal
to recognise A.C.T.T., he said that
the B.B.C. hit with a manicured
hand. When we went to the B.B.C.
and said that we represented 60' ,
of their employees working in the
grade of Cameraman and we
wished to be recognised, they re-
plied that they had no grade of
Cameraman, the gentlemen who
operated their cameras were En-
gineers of a certain grade. " This,
of course, is no more than a bare-
faced fiddle with words and I call
upon the incoming General Council
to take firm measures to put an
end to this."

Tony Shine, seconding, referred
to the negotiations for an Agree-
ment and said that although the
first draft had been torn up on the
spot by the Executive they had at
last got something and every sec-
tion would have to see it before
it went back to the Programme
Contractors.

A Cast Iron Case

George Elvin said that he felt
he could not go back to his hospital
supper without speaking on one
resolution, and he had chosen this
particular one. Desmond Davis had
said that A.C.T.T. had a cast-iron
case for being recognised by the
B.B.C. in Television. " We must
take a lesson from the Musicians'
Union and Equity who equally had
this problem and faced up to it by
action. The Musicians' Union
sought recognition not by arguing
but by a threatened stoppage on
the job and we must be as militant
in order to be recognised. We must
have a similar showdown with the
B.B.C. to that which the Musicians
and Equity had."

In the Laboratories agreements
were taken for granted, but they
were not taken for granted as far
as Television was concerned. " We
have got to work hard in the next
few months to get through in
Television the same sort of agree-
ments as in films."

Bert Craik hoped that members
would not get too despondent be-
cause the Programme Contractors
were still talking to us. " It is we
who have held up negotiations.
They submitted to us, after talks
with our side, a draft Agreement
which the Executive were not
happy about and we had spent
four weekends amending it," he
said. We had completed our work
(Continwi <l mi /<n</< 46)

March 1957

FILM & TV TECHNICIAN

A Technician's Notebook

REVISED EXPOSURE STANDARD

THE British Standards Institution
has issued a revised British
Standard for Photographic Ex-
posure Tables. This standard first
appeared in 1941 as a War Emer-
gency Standard following upon a
request from the Admiralty

In 1947 a new standard on speed
and exposure index of photographic
negative material was published
and it was, therefore, necessary to
revise the one dealing with ex-
posure tables. At the same time
the exposure values were brought
into line with the corresponding
American Standard and this in-
volved an increase in the exposure
obtained from the tables. This in-
crease was generally considered in
this country to be too large and it
was explained in an amendment
that the scene indices for black
and white negative material incor-
porated a safety factor of 4 to
guard against the likelihood of
under-exposure due to errors in
scene estimation and to deteriora-
tion of emulsions.

Recent experience in America
has confirmed the British view that
this safety factor was too high,
and the American Standard was
recently revised to incorporate re-
duced safety factors and a modified
scene structure classification.

The new British Standard main-
tains the alignment with the
American standard. There have
also been other changes : provision
is made for the more logical series
of shutter speeds which is being
included in the revised British
Standard " Camera Shutters " now
being prepared; and an appendix
has also been added which gives an
approximate table for converting
the European Scheiner, Weston and
DIN speed systems to the British
Standard (logarithmic) and the
American Standard (arithmetic)
exposure index.

Copies of this Standard, B.S. 935:
1957, can be obtained from the
B.S. I., 2 Park Street, London, W.l.
The price is 3/-.

W. F. Dormer Ltd. inform me
that the Camefiex hire service they
started several months ago with
one camera has proved so popular

that they now have four outfits
available, with camera crews if
needed.

Two of the cameras are of the
type which can be converted to
shoot 16mm. in a matter of

A. E. Jeakins

seconds. With 16mm. film lenses
down to 13.5mm. can be used, with
35mm. film an 18.5mm. lens is pro-
vided. The range of lenses extends
upwards to one of 500mm. focal
length. There is a choice of sync,
or wild motors, and one outfit is
fitted with a contactor for the
Leevers-Rich Syncropulse sound
system. A blimp is available when
needed. Magazines of 100, 200 or
400 feet capacity can be supplied.
Equipment for special applications
— for example time lapse, remote
control, underwater photography,
etc. can be provided.

Recently I gave some details of
a " mirror " screen being developed
in Poland which enabled pictures
to be projected under normal room
lighting conditions. The "American
Cinematographer " reports experi-
mental development of a radically
new type picture screen that
makes possible the viewing of tele-
vision and motion pictures in
artificially or naturally lighted
rooms, by the Radio Corporation
of America. It is reported that the
new screen makes possible in-
creases of up to 20 to 1 in picture
contrast under adverse ambient
light conditions. The R.C.A. screen
has a honeycomb structure, con-
sisting of a network of tiny, inter-
connecting cells. It is made of
aluminium foil, 001 inch thick;
cell width, length and depth can
be varied to produce a range of
viewing angles.

For motion picture use the
screen, or " directional viewing
device " as it is called, can be
mounted in front of the theatre or
home screen or it can be made

complete with a backing screen.
For TV use the device would be
placed directly in front of the
receiver.

Last December the Hollywood
plant of Technicolor Ltd. passed
the 5,000 million mark in pro-
cessed footage. Most of this foot-
age was accounted for in the form
of 35mm. positive colour prints
manufactured by the Technicolor
imbibition process. More Techni-
color prints have been made of
Gone With the Wind than of any
other picture : 2,000 in fact, total-
ling round about 41,000,000 feet.
("American Cinematographer").

NEW ORGANISER

Tj^RED TONGE, a Trade Union
*- Organiser with thirty years' ex-
perience in the Transport Salaried
Staffs' Association, has joined the
staff of A.C.T.T. as a temporary
Organiser.

He started his Trade Union
activities as Branch Secretary at
Swindon. In 1939 he transferred
to London, and two years later he
became Secretary of the Padding-
ton Branch.

In 1943 he was elected to the
National Executive of the T.S.S.A.,
serving on the Negotiating Com-
mittee. He also served for fifteen
years on the Superannuation Com-
mittee and for ten years on the
Sectional Council, which deals with
conditions of employment apart
from nationally negotiated agree-
ments.

Between 1943 and 1956 he repre-
sented the T.S.S.A. at the T.U.C.
and the Labour Party Conferences.

He has been a member of Trade
Union delegations to Belgium,
Austria, Czechoslovakia and the
U.S.S.R. He stood as Parliamen-
tary Labour candidate for Chelsea
in 1950 and 1951. In 1952 he was
elected to the L.C.C. for South
Hammersmith. This constituency
disappeared under the re-distribu-
tion of 1955. In 1956 he was elected
an Alderman of St. Pancras
Borough Council.

FILM & TV TECHNICIAN

March 1957

General Council in Session

PROGRESS IN TV FIELD

TELEVISION. P. Leech reported
that full Committees were func-
tioning in Associated Rediffusion
and Granada, Manchester, and
there was an A.C.T.T. Steward in
the A.B.C. Studios in Manchester.
Our members in I.T.N, have formed
a committee and elected a Steward.
A shop meeting was held, at which
an Organiser was present, and fur-
ther steps are being taken to
organise this company fully. The
company is now to be represented
on the Programme Contractors'
Labour Relations Committee. A
well-attended meeting of Produc-
tion Assistants from three of the
four TV Contractors was held. The
working conditions of Production
Assistants in A.B.C. Television are
to be taken up with the company.
Negotiations have been held with
Associated-Rediffusion on the re-
opening of Studio 9, and a number
of redundant members have been
re-engaged.

The Organiser was to visit Man-
chester to attend a joint committee
meeting of Granada and A.B.C.
Four weekend meetings of the Ex-
ecutive sub-committee to amend
the Programme Contractors' Asso-
ciation/A. C.T.T. Agreement have
been held, with members from the
main companies present.

ASSOCIATION OF BROADCAST-
ING STAFFS. A letter has been
received from NATKE suggesting
an informal meeting between Sir
Tom O'Brien, Mr. Frank Haxell of
the E.T.U. and the Acting General
Secretary to discuss the activities
of the A.B.S. in the commercial
television field with a view to a
joint approach to the General
Council of the T.U.C. The Execu-
tive agreed that we should take
part in these discussions.

CINEMA MANAGERS' ASSOCIA-
TION. The Executive Committee
agreed that we should be represen-
ted on the Committee which this
Association proposed should be
established with a view to obtain-
ing trade union representation on
the All-Industry Tax Committee,
and Sidney Cole and Chris Brunei
were appointed A.C.T.T.'s repre-
sentatives.

RANK LABORATORIES, BEN-
HAM AND ACTON. The Acting
General Secretary reported that he
had written to Mr. Harcourt re-
questing an assurance on the
points raised at the last meeting of
the General Council and had re-
ceived a reply giving assurance
that there was no intention to
transfer personnel from one labora-
tory to another unless it was the
express desire of a particular em-
ployee. On the question of possible
future redundancy at either labora-
tory we were assured that the
company would consider the matter
in the light we mentioned and due
notice would be taken of length of
service.

" SPORTSVIEW ". The Acting
General Secretary reported that
the General Council's decision re-
garding the printing of Sportsview
had been implemented and as
Olympic had not approached us by
the deadline date given to them
we had advised Kay's Management
through the Shop Steward that it
was in order for them to print
Sportsview if they so wished.

SHIFT-WORKING FOR DUB-
BING STAFFS AT PINEWOOD:

A letter from the B.F.P.A. pro-
posed to introduce shift work for
dubbing staffs at Pinewood in
order to try and avoid excessive
overtime which otherwise would be
necessary to cope with the volume
of work. The B.F.P.A. suggested
a meeting with representatives of
NATKE and A.C.T.T. in order to
discuss detailed proposals. The
letter was considered in conjunc-
tion with the views of the Pine-
wood Committee, and it was agreed
that the Acting General Secretary
should reply, saying that we should
be prepared to meet the B.F.P.A.
on our own and under the terms of
our agreement.

SOUND SECTION. The Executive
reconsidered the letter from the
Sound Section of the 8th October,
1956 itemising various complaints
and drafted a reply. In connection
with Ail-In Contracts, it was
agreed the Section be advised that
both the A.S.F.P. and B.F.P.A.,
together with companies not in
membership of these two organisa-

tions, were written to on this
matter last August. It was also
agreed that Head Office should
send a circular to all Feature and
Shorts Shop Stewards, and Section
Secretaries, advising them that no
member, with the exception of
those grades set out in the Feature
Agreement who have the right to
negotiate an individual contract,
should sign contracts at an all-in
rate for location work.

RANK PRECISION INDUSTRIES

(British Acoustic): When the
Organiser (P. Leech) appeared at
the Works, the Steward, Bro.
Langdon, was informed that if he
insisted on the Organiser being
present the Company would insist
that the redundancy issue become
one for the Federation of Engineer-
ing Employers, and that their
representative would have to be
present. Because of the pattern set
by the employers at Federation
level on redundancy, it was felt
that to make such an insistence
would be unwise at that juncture.
Therefore the Organiser and Bro.
Langdon suggested to the A.E.U.
and Sheet Metal Workers' Stewards
an approach to obtain the four-day
week; failing satisfaction on this:

(i) to find the definite number
and the departments involved
in the redundancy;
i ii i to reduce this number as

much as possible;
(iii) the principle of last in first
out and re-engagement in the
the same order;
(iv) adequate compensation (bear-
ing in mind our Technicolor
experienct ).
The Management could not
accept a four-day week as the pre-
sent position could continue for a
year, but they accepted the prin-
ciple of last in first out, and re-
engagement in the correct order,
while refusing to give the exact
number of redundancies and the
departments concerned. On com-
pensation they refused to give de-
tails but refilled to their handling
of a previous redundancy, i.e.. after
3 years two weeks' salary, after
5 years one month's, with a month
for every 5 years' service above
this. Up to 3 years, nothing.

March 1957

FILM & TV TECHNICIAN

General Council

(continued)

A series of full Shop meetings
had been held, with the A.E.U. in
the main accepting the Manage-
ment's conditions. When the total
redundancies were announced they
involved some 30 workers, only
two of whom were A.C.T.T. mem-
bers. These members have subse-
quently found other jobs but at less
pay. A.C.T.T. members are expect-
ing further redundancies and are
not happy at the way things have
gone. The A.C.T.T. committee is
meeting the joint works committee
to discuss future redundancies and
the policy that should be pursued.
This brief report does not do full
justice to the efforts of Bro. Lang-
don, who has had to fight under the
most difficult conditions and has
made extraordinary efforts to help
non-members affected by the re-
dundancy.

Arising out of this report the
Executive Committee agreed that
with a view to working out a
policy for the future the Organiser
should raise the matter with the
A.E.U. Area Organiser.

NATIONAL SCREEN SERVICE.

A further approach was made to
this company pressing for the full
implementation of the Laboratory
Agreement, implying also that we
may have no alternative but to
take the matter to arbitration if
the matter could not be settled
amicably. The company have writ-
ten to say that if they are com-
pelled to pay the full increases
they would have only one alterna-
tive, obviously hinting that it
would mean redundancy. The offer
they have made in writing is an
increase of 5/6d. per week to each
employee and a change in the cost
of living bonus to l/6d. per point
from the week commencing 31st
December, 1956. The Executive
Committee agreed that Bessie Bond
should press the case and placed

on record their full support to the
members.

THE AFRICAN BUREAU. After
considering the following declara-
tion of this Bureau submitted by
Anthony Perry, the Executive
recommended A.C.T.T. associate
itself with it :

" We, the undersigned . drawn from
the field of art and sport, are dis-
mayed by the danger that is arising
in Africa from the theory and practice
of apartheid. We believe that the
theory is inhuman, and that the prac-
tice restricts arbitrarily, even pro-
hibits, the enjoyment and the use of
human talent,

" Sport and the arts are concerned
with those things mankind has in
common. Today, when men increas-
ingly hunger for freedom and unity,
we believe that we have a special
responsibility to cherish and advance
the liberties which have been so
hardly won through the centuries.

" To impose any form of discrimi-
nation on grounds of race, colour or
religion is contrary to all we believe
and work for. We are determined
nowhere to condone it, but to oppose
it by every means in our power; and
we invite anyone who shares our view
to join us in this declaration."

PARAMOUNT & NEWSREEL

TRUST: The Acting General Sec-
retary had written to Paramount,
as instructed by the General Coun-
cil earlier in February, and had
received a reply indicating that the
company was not prepared to alter
its original attitude that it would
not negotiate with A.C.T.T. over
compensation for former Para-
mount News employees. Bert Craik
was instructed by the Executive to
reiterate that we have a duty to
protect the interests of our mem-
bers; he had also said that if we
did not get satisfaction by return
of post we would report the matter
as a dispute to the Ministry of
Labour and take steps to have the
matter raised in the House of
Commons. It was reported to the
meeting that members with long
service had been given compensa-
tion at the rate of a week's pay for
every year with Paramount News,
and, in view of all the circumstan-
ces, this was regarded as in-
adequate.

OFFICIAL APPOINTMENT

SOUND TECHNICIAN required by KENYA GOVT. INFORMATION
DEPT. on probation for pensionable establishment. Normal tour 36/45
months. Salary scale (including Inducement Pay) £1,056 rising to £1,341
a year. Commencing salary according to qualifications and experience.
Free passages. Liberal leave on full salary. Candidates should have had
at least 5 years' experience of sound recording in all stages of film
production, the installation and maintenance of electronic equipment
and a thorough knowledge of magnetic recording media and methods.
They must also have had experience of 16mm. production with mag-
netic tracks, synchromous recording, dubbing and transfer. Write to
the Crown Agents, 4 Millbank, London, S.W.I. State age, name in block
letters, full qualifications and experience and quote M3B/43956/CY.

The Council also had before it
the announcement of the formation
of the British Commonwealth In-
ternational Newsfilm Agency Trust.
After discussion it was agreed that,
failing satisfaction from Para-
mount, the matter be referred to
the Ministry of Labour, and that
powers be given to the Executive
to take further action if required.
It was further agreed to seek a
meeting with the Newsreel Asso-
ciation and to approach the Trust
immediately to discuss their work
and the question of the employ-
ment of our members.

APPOINTMENT VACANT

Office junior with typing experi-
ence required for Records Depart-
ment at A.C.T.T. Head Office.
Applicants should phone Office
Manager at Gerrard 8506 for inter-
view.

WANTED

Composer wishes to break the
" Chicken or the Egg " sequence —
has written score documentary
film and signature tune for indus-
trial series. Now wishes more
(much more!) film work. Capable
anything from "ferronconcrete" to
"neo-Stravinsky". Write BOX 201,
Film & TV Technician, 5-6 Red
Lion Square, London, W.C.I.

Camera Hire

(1) NEWMAN SINCLAIR— Mirror Shutter.
All Cooke Lenses including Series 2.,
25mm., f. 1.7. SINGLE FRAME EXPOSURE
and Electric Motor Drive. (Available fully
adapted for CINEMASCOPE if required.)

(2) NEWMAN SINCLAIR— Mirror Shutter.
Cooke Lenses and 24mm. Angineux Retro-
focus.

(3) NEWMAN SINCLAIR— Model G. All
Cooke Lenses. SINGLE FRAME EXPOSURE
and Electric Motor Drive if required.

Kingston Tubular and Vinten Light Gyro
Tripods.

LOCATION
CAMERA DOLLYS

Metal construction, pneumatic tyres, drop-
down jacks, lightweight tracks, etc.

S. W. SAMUELSON

FINchley I 595

FILM & TV TECHNICIAN

March 1957

A.G.M.

(Continued)

now and would submit the new
draft to the Executive, to a meet-
ing of the Television Section, and
then to the Programme Contrac-
tors for negotiation."

Monopoly Trends

As a matter of emergency the
A.G.M. had before it a resolution
in the name of the General Council
expressing concern at continuing
monopoly trends in the film in-
dustry, particularly the expansion
of the major cinema circuits, the
absorption into the largest mon-
opoly group of Olympic Labora-
tories, and the newly-formed Bri-
tish Commonwealth International
News Film Agency, and instructing
the General Council to take such
action as it deemed necessary.

Labs Worried

Alf Cooper, moving on behalf of
the General Council, said that in
the laboratories they were very
worried at the concentration of the
industry into the control of too
few people fighting one another to
the detriment of the employees.
Terry O'Brien, seconding, said the

immediate reaction of newsreel
members to the newly-formed Bri-
tish Commonwealth News Film
Agency was one of fear. The dan-
ger they saw lay in the tie-up with
the B.B.C. and the Rank Organisa-
tion. They presumed the Rank
outlet for news would be on closed
circuit television. If other circuits
were not so well equipped for this
it meant all newsreels would be in
the hands of Rank. The only other
outlet they had for broadcasting
TV news was I.T.N who, signifi-
cantly enough, had not been in-
vited to join this organisation. The
contraction of outlet would obvi-
ously mean some contraction of
work.

The resolution was passed.

Another emergency resolution,
moved for the General Council by
Ralph Bond and seconded by R. J.
Minney, stressed the need for sub-
stantial alterations in the Quota
provisions of the Cinematograph
Films Act and protested against
the decision of the Government to
extend this section of the Act for
a further ten years without altera-
tion. It noted that, following pres-
sure from the Unions and other
trade bodies the President of the
Board of Trade had now under-
taken that later in the year he

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would consult the Cinematograph
Films Council and all sections of
the industry about detailed amend-
ments to the quota legislation. The
resolution, which was carried,
stressed the need of sufficient Par-
liamentary time being allowed for
amending legislation before the
present Cinematograph Films Act
expired.

The Government was called upon,
in a resolution moved by Sam
Napier-Bell, to revive the former
policy of generous and imaginative
sponsorship of documentary films.

Artistic Standards

Walter Lassally, seconded by
Lindsay Anderson, succeeded in
narrowly defeating the General
Council on a resolution which he
moved calling upon the incoming
General Council to accept respon-
sibility for promoting the highest
professional and artistic standards
in films, particularly when con-
sidering the encouragement of new
talent into the industry, applica-
tions for temporary membership,
applications for varying the estab-
lished terms and conditions of
employment for special projects,
and exchanges with technicians of
other countries.

Demands for the establishment
by the Government of a National
Film Circuit in order to stimulate
British production and for the
setting up of a National Film Unit
under a National Film Board were
made in two resolutions put for-
ward by the National Coal Board
Technical Film Unit. Both these
resolutions were passed.

A resolution in the name of the
Producer/ Directors' Section was
passed calling on the General Coun-
cil to investigate the possibilities of
setting up international co-produc-
tions along the lines of those made
by various combinations of Euro-
pean countries where the films pro-
duced were eligible for double quota.

The incoming General Council
was strongly urged, in a resolution
moved by Bill Whittemore, to ex-
amine all means of bringing pres-
sure to bear on Kodak with the
object of achieving recognition of
A.C.T.T.

COVER STILL

Cover still by Ian Jeayes is of
Dirk Bogarde and Brigitte Bardot
in Doctor at Large.

March 1957

FILM & TV TECHNICIAN

GEVAERT

G E VAE RT

SOUND RECORDING FILMS

G EVA E RT

MAGNETIC FILMS AND TAPES

Gevasonor magnetic coatings are available
on 5 thou, base in 16 mm., 17.5 mm. and 35 mm.
widths or as ^-inch tape. These materials are of
such quality that for some scientific applications
where freedom from dropouts and evenness of
coating is essential no other tape available
will fulfil requirements.

Full Technical Information from :

GEVAERT LIMITED, Motion Picture Department,

Acton Lane, Harlesden, London, N.W.10 ELGar 6755

"■■■■

FILM & TV TECHNICIAN

March 1957

ILFORD

— a magnificent tribute to the

fine-grain qualities of ILFORD FP3

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Published by the Proprietors, The Association of Cinematograph, Television and allied Technicians, 2 Soho
Square, London, and Printed by Watford Printers Limited, Watford, Herts.

WKVWW

FILM AND TV
TECHNICIAN

Association of Cinematograph, Television and allied Technicians

Vol. 23 No. 148 PRICE 6d.

FILM & TV TECHNICIAN

April 1957

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April 1957

FILM & TV TECHNICIAN

EDITORIAL

INCOMPETENT AND INEPT

THE> new Films Bill has now
passed through all its stages in
the House of Commons and has
become Law.

As A.C.T.T. forecast, the Govern-
ment resisted and defeated all
amendments designed to improve
the Bill and the most the Labour
opposition extracted from the
President of the Board of Trade
were two concessions.

The best that can be said for the
Bill — or rather, now, the Act — is
that it carries forward, for the
time being, the functions of the
National Film Finance Corpora-
tion, and imposes a statutory Eady
Levy in place of the present un-
satisfactory voluntary system.

The positive value of these two
sections of the Act is that inde-
pendent producers can still obtain
financial backing from the Film
Finance Corporation for agreed
projects, and British producers can
be assured that their box-office
returns will be augmented by a
Levy which will produce £3| mil-
lion pounds in the first year, and
anything between £2 million and
£5 million in subsequent years.

Against these helpful features
can be set a number of serious
defects, not the least of which is
the clause in the Act providing for
the sale of the assets of the
National Film Finance Corpora-
tion.

Despite the most vigorous fight
put up by Labour M.P.s, the
Government insisted on the reten-
tion of this clause, and the only
concession made was an amend-
ment to ensure that any purchaser
of the Corporation must be and
must remain a British company.

Let us consider for a moment
the iniquity of this section of the
Act which says that at some period
the assets of the Corporation can
be sold to a company which satis-
fies the Board of Trade that it is
willing and able to make adequate
financial facilities available to per-
sons who wish to arrange for the
production or distribution of cine-
matograph films.

In effect it means that at any
time during the next ten years, the
Government can decide that this
publicly-owned films bank shall be

sold lock stock and barrel to pri-
vate enterprise.

In the words of Mr. John
Rankin, M.P. : " Take away the
Film Finance Corporation and we
are handing over the industry to
the great monopolies."

Mr. Stephen Swingler, M.P., put
it even more forcefully. " It seems
to me ", he said, " that this is all
part of the philosophy of saying
that we should socialise only the
losses and should always privatise
the profits; that profits should
always go into the hands of the
private capitalist and only losses
should be borne by public funds.
Why should not we in this country
have a publicly-owned films bank
and why should it not be a suc-
cessful piece of public enterprise?"

And what was the Government's
answer to that?

Sir David Eccles, President of
the Board of Trade, was perfectly
open about it. " The Hon. Mem-
ber and his Hon. Friends believe
in the Government staying in busi-
ness. We on this side do not
believe in it."

Apart from the fact that it is
not the Government that is in busi-
ness, but the community as a
whole, the implication of this state-
ment seems clear. It is the inten-
tion of this Government, when it
thinks it can get away with it, to
sell up the Film Finance Corpora-
tion to private enterprise.

As other Labour Members
pointed out, why stop at the films
bank? Why not sell up the schools,
or even hand over the Army and
Navy to private enterprise? Why
not indeed? The Government
would really then be out of busi-
ness, in more senses than one !

As members who were at the
A.G.M. will know, one of the most
serious criticisms we had to make
of the Bill was that it extended the
quota provisions for another ten
years without change.

As a result of our protests, com-
bined with those of others, the
Board of Trade had promised con-
sultations this autumn on amend-
ments to the quota, but without
guarantee of Parliamentary time
and new legislation.

Now the President of the Board

of Trade has had to go a bit
further, and announce another con-
cession. He said, in Committee :
" I repeat my assurance that
when we have finished the con-
sultations with the industry which
are necessary to carry out the pro-
visions of the Bill, should it become
law, we shall go straight on to the
discussion of quota legislation.
That ought to give us a fair
amount of time to bring in legis-
lation next session or in the follow-
ing one — but I cannot commit the
Government since we do not yet
know what our legislative pro-
gramme will be."

At the third reading he tabled
a Government amendment the
effect of which is to carry on with
the present quota legislation until
1960 instead of 1968 as originally
proposed.

The House of Commons agreed
to this, but not without protest.
Mr. Stephen Swingler again
pointed out that despite the fact
that the views of all the trade
organisations were known months
ago, the Board of Trade requires
another three years and the exist-
ing system with all its faults is to
be prolonged until 1960.

The ineptness and incompetence
with which the Government has
handled the whole matter is clear
for all to see. Admittedly a three
year wait is preferable to ten, but
three years is far too long, and
A.C.T.T., at least, will not be con-
tent to suffer in silence.

FILM & TV TECHNICIAN

Editor:
MARTIN CHISHOLM

Editorial Office:
2 SOHO SQUARE, W.l

(GERrard 8506)

Advertisement Office:
5 & 6 RED LION SQ., W.C.I

(HOLborn 4972)

FILM & TV TECHNICIAN

April 1957

A Technician's Notebook

NEW GATE MECHANISM • CINEMIRACLE • FRENCH LENSES

RECENTLY I was invited to
look at a very interesting modi-
fication of an Arriflex camera;
nothing less than the fitting of a
completely new gate mechanism
incorporating a double claw pull-
down and register pins.

it is the outcome of enterprise
and initiative on the part of the
technicians in a documentary unit
who felt that there was a need for
a light portable camera with a
standard of performance generally
associated only with heavy studio
equipment. They were fortunate in
having as enthusiastic collaborator
a young engineer who, convinced
of the practicability of the idea,
set to work, designed and produced
the gate which has now been given
the name P.F.P.

The P.F.P. gate has all the ap-
pearances of being built to good
engineering standards. The film is
pulled down by double claws,
operated by two cams which ensure
that the claws enter and with-
draw from the perforations at right
angles to the direction of film
travel. The two register pins are
also driven positively by a cam, and
do not use return springs.

Improved Definition

The back pressure plate is also
cam operated and clamps the film
in the focal plane during exposure.
I was assured that this has pro-
duced a considerable improvement
in definition; and, because the back
pressure plate is retracted while
the film is being pulled down by
the claws, one of the main causes
of negative scratch is eliminated.

The Arriflex camera to which
the gate has been fitted has been
in use on a production, and to date
about 20,000 feet of film have been
shot, with entirely satisfactory
results in respect of steadiness and
definition.

As proof of this we were shown
on the screen shots taken at
various stages of the production.
Also screened were double exposure
steady tests of the displaced cross
type, and split screen shots, with
both horizontal and vertical splits.
They were an impressive demon-

stration of the accuracy of the
registration of this gate.

As one might expect with a
movement employing a moving
back pressure plate it is rather
noisier than the standard Arriflex

A. E. Jeakins

gate, but it was stated that the
gate could be made quieter running
by changes in some of the details
of its construction.

Because of the fact that the
pressure plate works positively by
a cam and is not spring loaded
some adjustment would be neces-
sary to accommodate a thicker
film stock like Eastmancolor.

Another feature of the P.F.P.
gate worth noting is that though
the modification was carried out
on a Model II camera, tests have
revealed that it works equally well
with the II. A with its larger
shutter opening. As the II and
II. A shutter mechanisms are inter-
changeable, this has obvious
advantages.

The cost? It is estimated this
would be about £300, with a de-
livery time of roughly six weeks.
Anyone interested to know more
about the P.F.P. gate should get
in touch with Clifford Cameras and
Equipments, 1 Soho Square, W.l.

Cineniiracle

Cinemiracle, the newest of the
super wide-screen systems, uses
three cameras in one photographic
unit and three projectors inter-
locked to produce a picture with a
horizontal angle of 146° on a giant
curved screen. Unlike its predeces-
sor in the same field, Cinerama,
only one projection booth is used.

According to an article in
"American Cinematographer " by
Joe Henry, on which these notes are
based, demonstration screenings in

Hollywood showed perfect blending
of the three sections of the picture
on the screen with no " jiggle "
between them.

National Theatres are behind
this new process, on which develop-
ment was begun in 1952. The
Mitchell Camera Company built
the camera unit, which consists
basically of three cameras mounted
on a base plate. The centre camera
shooting straight ahead records
the central panel of the triptych,
the two flanking cameras set at an
angle photograph the left and right
hand panels through mirrors.

"The American Cinematographer"
article says that an important
feature of the set-up, responsible
for the excellent photographic
results, is an interlocked electronic
control linked with the Smith-
Dietrich lens system, but does not
go much further in explaining
what this system is. As in Cine-
rama, a six sprocket hole film
frame is used.

Single Booth

As mentioned above, the three
projectors for showing the Cine-
miracle pictures are housed in a
single booth. The centre projector
screens the centre section of the
picture, and the left and right hand
panels are projected by machines
set at right angles to the centre
projector and projecting through
mirrors which are adjustable to the
fine limits necessary to produce
the illusion of a single panoramic
picture on the screen. The projec-
tors are fitted with 8,000 ft. spool
boxes. The sound track is on a
separate magnetic film and runs in
sync, with the picture on equip-
ment interlocked with the projec-
tors.

The Cinemiracle screen used in
the demonstration measured 63 ft.
by 26 ft. with a maximum curve
of 13 ft. at the centre; covering a
field of vision 146° wide and 55°
wide.

The first Cinemiracle feature.
Cinemiracle Adventure, is in course
of production. The story is con-
cerned with the last of the square-

April 1957

FILM & TV TECHNICIAN

P. F. P. Gate Mechanism

rigged sailing ships and involves
shooting in many parts of the
world.

" In Praise of the French "

Brian Stanford begins a recent
article in the " British Journal of
Photography " called " In Praise of
the French " by saying that in the
past the inventive genius of
France in the cinematographic field
has not received a proportionately
deserved financial investment by
France herself. Other countries
have benefited financially from
many of the inventions originating
in France. This is not to ignore
the international reputation of
names like Debrie and Eclair. But
since the war there has occurred
" a sudden explosion of inventive
genius . . . coupled to intensive and
successful native commercial ex-
ploitation."

Dr. Stanford, who is writing
mainly about 16 mm., instances the
Cameflex camera, backed by the
famous name of Eclair, with its
novel gate interchangeable to take
16mm. or 35mm. stock, and its
mirror shutter, as the first intima-
tion of the new spirit that was
rising in France.

The Cameflex was followed a
few years later by the 16mm.
Pathe-Webo, also produced by a
company with a considerable manu-
facturing experience. In Dr. Stan-
ford's view it is the serious ama-

teur's best value at present; light,
but nevertheless robust, it provides
continuous viewing through the
taking lens while shooting, by
means of a pellicle, inserted behind
the lens and in front of the shutter,
which reflects about lO^r of the
light through the focusing tele-
scope. This gives a bright enough
image for focusing, and the loss of
light is negligible as far as ex-
posure is concerned. A variable
shutter and film wind-back allow
fades and mixes to be made.

The 8mm. Camex tackles the
continuous viewing problem in yet
another way. The shutter works
like a reciprocating guillotine; a
prism attached to it deflects the
image formed by the lens through
the viewfinder when the shutter is
in the closed position.

Brilliant Computations

In the matter of lenses for cine-
cameras the French have done even
better with some brilliant new
computations. Pierre Angenieux is
quoted as the outstanding example.
Research during the occupation
period led him to develop the
theory of his Retrofocus lens,
which is based on the principle of
the reverse telephoto in which the
length of the mount is longer than
the effective focal length. As is
well known, the advantage of such
a system is that the distance be-

tween the back glass and the film
plane is so much greater than in
a conventional lens, that it is pos-
sible to use shorter focal length
lenses with mirror shutter cameras
than would otherwise be possible.

The Retrofocus computation
makes possible far greater back-
focus lengths than do orthodox
reverse telephoto formulae, and it
is at the same time so flexible that
wide angle lenses of astonishing
aperture can be made; an example
is the 10mm. f/1.8 for 16mm.
cameras. Angenieux has also pro-
duced a 25mm. lens — also for
16mm. — with an aperture of f/0.95!

(Another lens in the Retrofocus
range, the 18.5mm. for 35mm.
cameras, is widely known in this
country. — Ed.)

Bell-Howell to Distribute

Bell-Howell of America have
acquired the world distribution
rights of these lenses and have re-
designed some of their cameras to
accommodate them. Promised for
the future are a 15mm. f/1.3, a
50mm. f/0.95 and a compact zoom
of new computation.

In connection with zoom lenses,
the name of another famous French
optical manufacturer comes to
mind — Som-Berthiot. Their first
zoom lens, which had a range of
20mm. to 60mm. with an aperture
of f/2.7 over the full range, was
deservedly successful. The experi-
ence gained led to the design of a
new model with a range of 17-68
mm. with the impressive aperture
of f/2.2.

New 16mm. Series

Som-Berthiot, who can look back
on 100 years of existence, made
their entry into the 16mm. field in
1932 with an f/1.5 lens. They are
now on the point of putting a new
range of 16mm. lenses on the
market, starting with a 25mm.
f/1.4, a 10mm. f/1.9 and a 75mm.
f/2.5. These will be followed later
by a 25mm. f/0.95, a 100mm. f/3.5
and a 145mm. f/4.5.

Kinoptik, founded by M. Grosset
in 1932, is another famous lens-
making firm which originally made
lenses exclusively for the 35mm.
market, but have recently intro-
duced lenses for 16mm. professional
use.

The Kinoptik range of lenses is
held in the same esteem in pro-
fessional circles, Dr. Stanford says,
as are our Taylor-Hobson Cookes,
and are recommended equipment
for the Eclair Cameflex.

FILM & TV TECHNICIAN

April 1957

TALKING POINTS

TV CRITICISM MORE ADULT AUDIENCES AUTOMATION

Bouquet to Simon Brooks, sur-
veyor of TV in the " Daily Film
Renter ", for plugging a new devel-
opment in press previewing tele-
films on the same lines as cinema
pictures. He points out how absurd
it is for critics only to see these
recorded television programmes
when the public does; it is like a
film critic having to wait till after
the general release before he can
tell his readers about the film.

If the BBC and the programme
contractors do adopt this useful
step, which Simon Brooks regards
as " inevitable " in the progress of
TV in Great Britain, care will need
to be taken that the critics do not
become unofficial appendages of
the publicity departments and fan
clubs. That kind of " criticism ",
with its lack of independence of
thought, really does not do the
trade much good in the long run.

Equally, TV film reviewers
should not ape those clever-clever
critics who rarely lose an oppor-
tunity to work in a sarcastic sneer;
the most important quality a critic
needs is a love of the medium he
has under his inspection. That way
even the fiercest criticism will be
constructive. Few critics in Bri,
tain, compared with America,
France or Italy, measure up to this
criterion as well as being indepen-
dently-minded.

Teenage Problem

Leading figures in the film trade
still repeat that our policy is to
aim principally at the teen-age per-
sonality. A man who profoundly
disagrees is Adrian Brunei, who
tells me this is not sound business,
for by appealing mainly to teen-
agers we are limiting our target to
less than ten per cent of the
population.

He reached this conclusion by
the simple process of looking up
the official census figures published
earlier this year. According to the
latest analysis of the 1951 Census.
72% of the inhabitants of the
United Kingdom were over teen-
age, and this figure shows an in-
crease over that of the previous
Census of 1931, so illustrating that
the expectation of life is now
longer.

Adrian Brunei urges film and TV
producers to remember these
statistics and to appeal more to
adult audiences. Particularly im-
portant is it, he says, for the
cinemas, who find regular patron-
age dropping off as boys and girls
progress through the twenties, pos-
sibly because they are assuming
household responsibilities, and pos-
sibly because many of them have
grown bored with the fare that
consists so much of a repetition of

Cadmus"

films of war, violence and murder.
As Mrs. Eirene White, M.P., said
recently in the House of Commons,
" Cinemas cannot live on courting
couples alone."

I would add that British film
producers must wake up to the
fact that a number of Hollywood
film-makers are now tailoring their
pictures to a more mature audience
— because it pays. If you doubt
this, do as I did, and go on a diet
of American pictures for a few
weeks. I guarantee it will cure
you of any complacency about
British pictures. Hollywood is
backing its new pictures with a
special publicity appeal to the more
adult sections of the population, as
is seen in the advertisement by
Universal - International for The
Great Man. " If you rarely go to
the pictures," reads the advertise-
ment, " then one of your rare visits
is now, to see The Great Man."

But lift up your heads again,
British technicians, for "The Times"
and the "Daily Worker" agree! Of
The Hunchback of Notre Dame the
anonymous critic in "The Times"
said, ". . . the acting is poor and
is made to seem even poorer by
the dubbing ", and Robert Ken-
nedy in the "Worker" wrote,
" atrociously dubbed; the acting is
amateurish." This latest version of
the Victor Hugo classic was made

in France, where some of the
voices were post-synched into
English. These and other press
comments add point to A.C.T.T.'s
policy that foreign language dub-
bing into English should be done
in this country. We have proved
we have first class facilities here,
and it stands to reason that English
people know the intricacies of the
English tongue better than anyone
else.

Automation was the subject of
a lecture-film show, which the
Scientific Film Association has
beensponsoring, and very revealing
it has been, too. The speaker.
S. B. Bailey, of the Intelligence
Division of the Government's De-
partment of Scientific & Industrial
Research, pooh-hooed the idea that
workers had anything to fear from
automation, but significantly said
that one of the main uses of auto-
mation films was to enable factory
personnel departments to sell the
idea to the workers. As an ex-
ample of this kind of propaganda
film he showed Technique for To-
morrow, made by the Ford Motor
Company of America; this docu-
mentary was well made, but I
doubt if it would fool many British
people.

Chance for Unions

It was clear, however, that in-
dustrialists are going to put over
a lot of stuff about how automation
will produce more goods for the
nation; but they will soft-pedal the
fact that they want this done with
fewer workers and they will ignore
altogether the fact that automation
will help the industrialists make
still bigger profits. Here is a
chance for the Unions, in particu-
lar those in engineering trades, to
become the sponsors of documen-
taries and show automation to be
a means of great social advance
when in l>i< hands of the workers.
This question of the Labour and
Trade Union movement sponsoring
more films keeps coming up at the
Shorts & Documentary Section, and
it is about time that the Unions
realised that films can put over a
case far more graphically than
any other medium of expression.

April 1957

FILM & TV TECHNICIAN

FIRST MEETING OF TV BRANCH

ON the morning of Saturday,
April 6th, there was held, in
the York Hall, Caxton Hall, West-
minster, the inaugural meeting of
the Television Branch of A.C.T.T.
The purpose of the meeting was
to elect officers and to discuss the
new draft agreement between the
Association and the TV Pro-
gramme Contractors.

In view of the fact that there
had already been a meeting of the
Manchester members to pass this
draft and these were, therefore,
not present, and in view of the fact
that very many members were on
duty, the meeting was exception-
ally large. Well over a hundred
members were present.

Ralph Bond took the chair. On
the platform with him were Bert
Craik, the Acting General Secre-
tary, and four members of the
negotiating committee - - Vice-
Presidents Max Anderson and
Charlie Wheeler, the TV Vice-Pre-
sident Desmond Davis and one of
the TV General Council members,
Tony Shine. Also on the platform
was the President, Anthony
Asquith.

The President, in his opening
address, welcomed the formation
of the TV branch. He recalled how,
twenty-three years ago, the then
newly-formed ACT was regarded
by the tycoons in Wardour Street
as a bunch of trouble makers and

pointed out that almost every re-
former in history has started out
with the stigma of " trouble
maker ", in fact it is very nearly
an essential visa on the passport to
Westminster Abbey.

The President congratulated the
newly-formed branch on its birth
and only regretted the absence
through illness of the chief mid-
wife, the General Secretary.

Officers of the branch were then
elected. They were as follows:
Chairman — Desmond Davis. Vice-
Chairman — Tony Shine. Secre-
tary — Ivan Ager. Publicity Officer
— Graham Turner.

The meeting then moved on to
discuss the main business of the
day, the draft agreement.

Draft Agreement Approved

This discussion was full and
lively and many most interesting
comments and suggestions were
made and duly noted for action
by the negotiating committee.
Several extremely useful and con-
structive points were raised by
members and a small number of
amendments were voted upon.

It is particularly interesting to
note that the very first amendment
that was voted on and passed, and
much of the discussion was aimed
at ensuring smoother running and
more efficient organisation in the

television industry and it was
strongly felt by many of those
present that this was a gathering
of people who were there not
merely to grab what they could
get but who wished, in a respon-
sible manner, to contribute to the
prosperity and efficiency of the in-
dustry in which they worked and
to stake a reasoned claim in a
share of that prosperity.

After some two hours' discussion,
it was moved that the meeting
should authorise the negotiating
committee to go ahead on the basis
of the draft. This was voted upon
and carried unanimously.

Desmond Davis, the TV Vice-
President, then rose to thank the
members for their attendance.
After emphasising very strongly
the need for missionary zeal in
recruiting, he warmly thanked the
film members of the negotiating
committee, Charlie Wheeler and
Max Anderson for their hard work
and skilful help in framing the
draft agreement, Bert Craik and
Paddy Leech for their gargantuan
labours and Ralph Bond for chair-
ing the meeting.

The meeting ended on a most
stimulating note when Len Runkle,
on behalf of the Labs Committee,
pledged the fullest, unquestioning
support of the Laboratory mem-
bers to their Television brothers in
their impending negotiations.

THE Annual General Meeting of
J- the Television Producer/Direc-
tors' Section was held on April 4th.
Officers for the coming year were
elected as follows: Chairman,
Leonard Brett; Vice-Chairman,
Andrew Millar- Jones; General
Council representative, Robert
Barr. It was decided to elect four
deputies for the General Council
representative to enable other
members of the section to gain
experience in the work of the
General Council. The four elected
were: John Warrington, Vivian
Milroy, John Fitzgerald, and Cecil
Petty.

Robert Barr reported for the
newly-formed advertising sub-
committee which had been actively
engaged in stimulating interest
among members engaged in adver-
tising.

Some unrest was evinced at the

TV Producer J Directors 9 Section

present policy of granting A.C.T.T.
membership irrespective of qualifi-
cations or experience but after dis-
cussion it was realised that until
such time as the Union has a
majority power within television it
was more important to build up
membership figures.

The first of the Bulletins on tele-
vision demanded by the union
A.G.M. has already been circulated.
The section secretary, Paddy
Leech, was complimented on the
speed and efficiency with which the
bulletin had been got out.

With the enormous increase in
television members and with the
contractors' agreement about to
enter its final stage the Television

Producer/Directors' section are
looking forward to an interesting
and vitally important year.

VIVIAN MILROY.

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FILM & TV TECHNICIAN

April 1957

The Case for Co-productions

W/HEN the Annual General
" Meeting of A.C.T.T. unani-
mously voted in favour of explor-
ing ways and means for the
setting up of co-productions on the
European pattern, a decision had
been taken which can result in a
very substantial increase of film
production in this country, pro-
vided it is pursued vigorously
by our General Council, pro-
tected with the proper safeguards
by the Board of Trade and
launched with skill and determina-
tion by our producers.

Trade follows the film. We all
know the slogan. Hollywood has
proved its validity over the years.
The Government tell us that
Britain is about to enter the Euro-

and, last but not least, in order for
this country to work in partner-
ship as an equal with other
nations, perhaps even as primus
inter pares and not as the poor
relation.

Charles Frank

Time and again in recent months
we have witnessed the fantastic
spectacle where some of the big-
gest productions (financed with
frozen money, every penny of

THB Hl'NOHBACK OF NOTRE DAME
A Recent Example of International Co-production

pean Common Market and its Free
Trade Area. This, then, would
appear to be the ideal moment for
British Film Production to join
hands with our colleagues on the
Continent, in order to make the
kind of pictures which we should
otherwise never make, in order to
make more pictures than would
normally be made in this country.

which had been paid by the people
of this country) had an American
producer, an American director, an
American script and one or more
American stars; and each of these
films was given British Quota, and
all of them are eligible for money
from the Eady fund, a fund
specially created to help British
producers in their struggle against

overwhelming odds!

Maybe I should mention here
that I have no intention of attack-
ing Hollywood. The Americans
make pictures of world-wide
appeal. In production, distribution
and exhibition they believe them-
selves to be champions, and they
defend their title with the same
stamina and enthusiasm for the
rules of the game as did Rocky
Marciano in his fight against Don
Cockell. I do not blame Hollywood
for going all out for their pictures.
I blame us for failing to look after
ourselves.

What, you may ask, has all this
got to do with co-productions ? I
will tell you.

The advent of Cinemascope,
VistaVision and the like has
brought in its wake the trend
towards bigger films. The longer
and costlier they get, the smaller
is the number of films actually
being made.

The Basic Pattern

On the Continent of Europe, the
leading film producing nations
have got together. Their respec-
tive Trade Ministries have worked
out a formula which brought into
being the so-called twin-produc-
tions, jointly financed and pro-
duced by two nations under certain
rules mutually agreed upon by the
industries and Trade Ministries of
both countries with the one tre-
mendous advantage that the
pictures thus created by both
countries should be eligible for
quota in both countries. To illus-
trate the procedure, here, very
briefly, is the basic pattern of the
co-production Agreement between
France and Italy:

1. A French and mi Italian pro-
duction company agree to
make two films, one in France
and the other in Italy. In Pic-
ture 'A' the studio work is
done in France, in Picture 'B'
in Italy.

2. Each company provides one
French and one Italian Pro-
ducer to work on both pictures.
In Picture 'A' the Director is
Fnnch. in Picture 'B' the
Director is Italian. Key per-
sonnel on both films are ap-
pointed and shared by mutual

April 1957

FILM & TV TECHNICIAN

agreement on a 50/50 basis.

3. Production costs are shared on
either a 50/50 or a 60/1,0 or a
70/30 ba^is, the proportion to
be reversed in Picture 'B'. The
French Producer retains the
whole of the French-speaking
territories, the Italian the
whole of the Italian-speaking
territories; the rest of the
world is divided on the basis of
each producer's financial con-
tribution.

4. In both pictures, one of the
two stars is French, the other
Italian.

5. BOTH PICTURES ARE
QUOTA IN BOTH COUN-
TRIES and are eligible for
whatever production fund
benefits (Eady money, VAide
du Cinema, etc.) exist in the
respective countries.

France has co-production agree-
ments with Italy, Germany, Aus-
tria, Spain, Mexico, Argentina and
Japan. The average production
cost of a purely French top feature
is estimated at about £80,000,
whereas the average production
cost of a co-production top feature
works out at about £182,000. It is
evident, therefore, that most of
these co-productions could never
have been made but for the inter-
European agreements.

It is equally clear that these co-
productions did not only not cut
down on domestic production but
were in fact instrumental in in-
creasing production, and thereby
employment in the industries of
the countries concerned.

In this connection (a point of
particular interest to all A.C.T.T.
members) it is necessary to have a
look at production figures in
France over the last five years
when co-productions began to get
into their stride, and compare
them to the corresponding figures
in this country. The French pro-
duction figures were given me by
Unifrance Film, the British figures
by the British Film Producers'
Association. Owing to the single
feature programme operated in
France and most other European
countries, the average length of a
top French feature is about
9,000 feet, whereas the figures
quoted by the B.F.P.A. include all
films from 6,000 feet upwards.

Co-productions, the figures in
the table below appear to suggest,
mean an increase of production
and improvement of the employ-
ment situation. But this will only
apply to this country if we manage
to evolve the right formula. Only
if genuine British finance and
genuine European finance are
allowed to be used for these twin-
productions, and only if the Board
of Trade or a body appointed by it,
acts as controller before granting
quota, can the scheme be made to

American stars have commanded
the British Army, Navy and Air
Force in order, we were told, to
conquer the American market —
just as incongruous perhaps and
just as rewarding, but hardly for
the British Producer.

Genuine co-productions, how-
ever, will carry the British way of
life into the heart of the continent
of Europe. Because of the double
quota, our co-productions will get
the same showing as any French
picture in France and any Italian

ROMEO AND JILIET
A British-Italian Film

work here. Without this safe-
guard, production could be reduced
rather than expanded.

Still, if the producers of the
other European nations were able
to protect their own vital interests,
then surely our own organisations
should contrive to do the same.

But there is more to this co-
production idea than greater out-
put and employment. It is a two-
way traffic of ideas and ways of
life. Occasionally, it may be mis-
used. British-European co-produc-
tions may cast Gina Lollobrigida as
a Highland lassie or Anna Neagle
as Mistinguette. The results may
be incongruous yet highly reward-
ing. But I seem to remember
that in the not so distant past

Pure

British

French

French Co-

Feature

Year

Productions

productions

Total

Production

1952

109

1953

120

1954

1955

110

1956

129

picture in Italy. The names of
our sta^s will become household
words in Europe as much as they
already are in this country. And
we shall get a glimpse into the
way of life of the other European
nations. We shall realise that
basically we all have the same
problems and look for the same
things in life: how to live decently
side by side with fair shares for all.

Co-productions can forge a link,
an important link, between Britain
and the Commonwealth on the one
hand and the continent of Europe
on the other. That alone should be
a good enough reason to call them
into life.

Ivor Montagu

We regret that Ivor Montagu's
name was inadvertently omitted
from the list of members elected
to the General Council by A.G.M.
published in the March issue of
the Journal.

FILM & TV TECHNICIAN

April 1957

Book Review

UNIONS AND THE LAW

TRADE UNION LAW, by H.

Samuels. 5th Edition — Stevens
12/6d.

Mr. H. Samuels is a barrister
well known to members of A.C.T.T.
for the cases he has conducted on
its behalf and the other legal
assistance he has given to it.
Members of the Union will, there-
fore, be interested to know that
the fifth edition of his book on
Trade Union Law has been pub-
lished. Five editions in ten years
shows that the book has been
found generally helpful to the
trade union movement, and there
is not much in print which sets out
trade union law so simply and
clearly.

There are few areas of law
which so much need rationalisa-
tion. Trade Union law is still
based on the old common law
which held that trade unions were
illegal because they are in restraint
of trade. It would surely be sen-
sible now to replace this with a
modern code.

A writer in The Modern Law
Review recently suggested that,
in addition to the removal of this
common law stigma, consideration
should be given to universal regis-
tration of trade unions, the render-
ing enforcible of all contracts with

and within a union, a modification
of the absolute immunity from
being sued for wrongs, such as
negligence, and provision for mem-
bers to sue on collective agree-
ments made for their benefit.

Trade unions have a long history
of conflict with the law which
tends to make them suspicious of
law and sometimes also of lawyers.
This was very natural in days gone
by but such an attitude should now
be regarded as old fashioned.
Trade Unions are some of the most
powerful bodies in the state and it
would perhaps be unnecessary for
them to view with hostility any
proposal for rationalising trade
union law.

However this may be, there are
many cases which come before the
courts which concern unions. Mr.
Samuel's book is not a substitute
for legal advice, but it is very de-
sirable for those who are dealing
with union affairs to have an out-
line knowledge of trade union law.
This is what Mr. Samuels provides.

In the next edition he might use-
fully substitute a set of model
rules for the first appendix on the
1946 Act which is now no longer
necessary. This edition should
have a wide circulation.

Robert S. W. Pollard.

Film-Making in Hungary

By CHRISTOPHER BRUNEI,

Six months have passed since
the beginning of the insurrection
in Hungary, and conditions are
now improving again. Budapest
cinemas reopened very soon after
the fighting stopped, and the pro-
ductions that were held up by the
October events are being com-
pleted in the Hungarian studios,
and some of them are already be-
ginning to entertain the film-
hungry citizens of Budapest.

Like us, the Hungarians are
great filmgoers — you have to book
ahead to be certain of a seat in
Budapest, despite the number of
cinemas- but they see a far richer
variety of pictures from all corners

of the globe than we are privileged
to enjoy.

When I was there last Summer,
I heard a lot of praise for such
British comedies as Genevieve and
Laughter in Paradise, as well as
the more sophisticated humour of
Anthony Asquith's The Importanci
of Being Ernest. Among the latest
Hungarian productions are a num-
ber of home-made comedies — two
of them with a football background,
one of which I saw being filmed at
the mammoth People's Stadium in
Budapest.

Our cover still this month is
from The Football Star, and shows
Laszlo Ungvary playing the part

of the would-be dictator of the
imaginary State of Footballia,
where the position of the Govern-
ment depends on whether the
national soccer team wins the
international championship. The
Council of Ministers agrees to buy
the best player from the Hun-
garian team at any price, but the
Admiral entrusted with this
mission buys the wrong man — an
error which is only discovered just
before the decisive match! Ferenc
Puskas, Sandor Kocsis and the
other members of the Hungarian
national football team are guest
artists in the picture.

Fortune Smiles
The other soccer comedy, A Tale
of Twelve Points, is about four
people who join together to form
a syndicate to enter for the State
football pool; fortune smiles on
them and they get the winning
twelve forecasts — but next day
they learn with disappointment
that so many others won that week
that each one's share is quite in-
significant!

These two comedies, which
sound as if they would be very
popular over here, show part of the
trend in Hungarian pictures re-
cently (and more especially since
the coming of the new govern-
ment), for more warmth and
humanity in the subjects produced
and in their treatment.

Separate Union

There are virtually no film
actors and actresses who work
only for films, as they all also get
engagements on the stage and on
the radio. It is generally held
that the best film artistes are the
stars of the stage classics, amongst
which Shakespeare and Moliere are
very popular.

Trade Union organisation is now
on a different basis, as all film
workers are in a separate Union
from other entertainment workers
— until a little while before the
October events they were all in the
same Union.

ORDER YOU RUMOX

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can be obtained from Head

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April 1957

HERE AND
THERE

Every film maker and technician,
whatever his grade, who takes
cinema seriously, should subscribe
to, borrow, or steal the new Ameri-
can film magazine Film Culture.

Its claim and desire is to ad-
vance the study " of a more pro-
found understanding of the func-
tion and aesthetics of Cinema ".

The first few numbers contain
articles like " For a Universal
Cinema" by Orson Welles (about
censorship and stupid customs
rules), articles by Joris Ivens, Hans
Richter, two Synopses by Stroheim
and reviews of world productions.

In particular there is a splendid
contribution by George Fenin on
•' Motion Pictures and the Public,"
showing how desperate Hollywood
is becoming with new public tastes
and demands both at home and
abroad. He thinks Hollywood is
becoming " a spiritual desert in
glorious technicolor ".

Enigma

" The enigma of film making is
that it is at once a dictatorship and
a democracy — the dictatorship of
the creator who makes absolute his
conception of how the script should
be transferred to the screen; and
the democracy of scores of highly-
skilled technicians, who must work
as a team, pooling their knowledge
and experience, to make that
transition from the script." — Billy
Wilder in " Films and Filming ".

Financed by Church

The powerful Presbyterian
Church in America, according to
Dr. Ch. Leber in the " Kine ", has
put up half a million dollars for an
Eastmancolor Superscope feature
titled Accused.

Why has the church gone in for
financing features?

"We wanted to make an impact,
and commercial cinema is still the
most opinion-forming medium in
the world," says Dr. Leber.

The church is not asking to be
associated with the film. It is being
made by Film Productions Inter-
national, a Hollywood company.

" This picture doesn't preach
anything," he explains. " The fact
is the church has a story to tell,
which it believes must be told. It
deals with the problems of racial
equality and the rights of self-
determination ". Well, whether he

FILM & TV TECHNICIAN

STILL OF THE YEAR

Congratulations to Ken Danvers who has once again won " The Cinema's " Still

of the Year Award, this time with the magnificent still reproduced above from

the American film " The Pride and the Passion "

calls it preaching or not it's cer-
tainly needed, especially in places
like Alabama and South Africa.

Lewis McLeod.

NEWS FLASH

Just as we were going to press
we learned of the marriage of two
stalwarts of the Editorial Section,
Stan Hughes and Norma Bremson,
daughter of E.C. member Sid
Bremson. We wish them happiness
and prosperity.

Teehnirama

Technicolor are the latest to
sponsor a wide screen system.
Teehnirama, as the system is
called, employs standard 35mm.
negative which moves horizontally
through the camera exposing an
eight perforation picture as in
Vista- Vision. An anamorphic or
CinemaScope type Technicolor
release print made from the Teeh-
nirama negative allows for maxi-
mum use of the available positive
frame. (American Cinemato-

grapher).

FILM & TV TECHNICIAN

April 1957

General Council in Session

KODAK: THE NEXT STEP

amining the needs of specialised
film production for trainees and
newcomers; the resolution would
also be borne in mind during the
discussions that had started just
before the A.G.M. with the British
Film Academy, and it was also
referred to the New Entrants
Committee.

A petition is soon to be launched
by the Union as a further step
in the campaign to get the
Kodak management to recognise
A.C.T.T. This was one of the de-
cisions taken by the first meeting
of the newly-elected General Coun-
cil, following the unanimous adop-
tion at the Annual General Meet-
ing of the resolution strongly
urging the Council to examine all
means of bringing pressure to bear
on Kodak with the object of
achieving Trade Union recognition.
Head Office is to prepare the peti-
tion in conjunction with our mem-
bers at Kodak, and it is to be
signed by leading technicians, in
order to show the management
that the question of recognition
has the support of the Union as a
whole.

" DREYFUS CASE ". The Acting
General Secretary reported that
the Ministry of Labour had
granted permits both for an
American Producer (Sam Zim-
balist) and a Director (Jose Ferrer,
who was also starring in the film),
to work at M-G-M, despite the
objections from A.C.T.T. The
matter was being pursued with the
Company and with the firm sup-
port of the Producer/Directors'
Section and the General Council.

ENGINEERING DISPUTE AND
BRITISH ACOUSTIC. The British
Acoustic Shop Steward, Bob
Langdon, reported that the
A.C.T.T. Shop Committee recom-

mended that our members stop
work with the A.E.U. members for
as long as the dispute with the
Engineering Employers' Federa-
tion lasted. After discussion, the
Council agreed to instruct mem-
bers to abide by normal Trade
Union action, by which they would
refuse to handle any work nor-
mally done by A.E.U. members in
dispute, and that in the meanwhile
the Executive Committee would
examine the best ways and means
of assisting its brothers at British
Acoustic. It was further agreed to
contact the A.E.U. to find out in
what way our assistance at B.A.
could be given.

On a recommendation of the
Laboratory Committee it was
agreed nem. con. to give financial
support to the Confederation of
Shipbuilding and Engineering
Unions in their dispute and that a
circular should go out to Shop
Stewards about it. The Executive
has donated £100.

1957 A.G.M. DECISIONS. A num-
ber of the resolutions passed at the
Annual General Meeting were con-
sidered by the General Council.
On the resolution instructing the
General Council to do all it can to
revive any joint machinery with
employers and other bodies which
will ensure a suitable and con-
trolled supply of new entrants into
the film industry, the Council
agreed to remind the A.S.F.P. of
the clause in the A.S.F.P.-A.C.T.
Agreement on the question of ex-

OFFICIAL APPOINTMENT

FILM PROCESS INSTRUCTOR (LABORATORY SUPERVISOR)
required by NIGERIAN FEDERAL GOVT. INFORMATION SERVICE
for one tour of 12/24 months in first instance. Fixed salary (including
Inducement Addition) £1,600 a year. Gratuity at rate £150 a year. Free
passages for officer and wife. Assistance towards children's passages
and grant up to £150 annually towards maintenance in U.K. Liberal
leave on full salary. Candidate must have a thorough knowledge of all
aspects of cine film processing both 16mm. and 35mm. and will be
required to open up and run a small laboratory and to train African
staff. Write to the Crown Agents, 4 Millbank, London, S.W.I. State
a^e, name in block letters, full qualifications and experience and quote
M3B/43986/CY.

REPRESENTATION OF MEM-
BERS AT A.G.M.s. The whole
problem of devising machinery
whereby members on duty at the
time of the A.G.M. and those
working in provincial centres be
given full and proper opportunities
of expressing their wishes was re-
ferred to the Executive to prepare
a report.

GOVERNMENT POLICY AND
FILM PRODUCTION. On the re-
solution urging the Government to
revive the former policy of
generous and imaginative sponsor-
ship of documentary films to make
known at home and abroad the
problems and achievements of the
British people, it was agreed that
Dr. Charles Hill, M.P., the Govern-
ment's co-ordinator of the infor-
mation services, be asked to re-
ceive a deputation; the resolution
would also be sent to the A.S.F.P.
for information.

NATIONAL FILM UNIT. Copies
of the resolution calling upon the
Government to establish a
National Film Unit under a
National Film Board would be sent
to the Prime Minister, the
Treasury and the Leader of the
Opposition.

BRITISH FILM PRODUCTION
STANDARDS. This resolution,
which urged the General Council to
accept responsibility for promoting
the highest professional and
artistic standards in technique and
content, as well as its responsi-
bility for industrial terms and con-
ditions, was referred to the Execu-
tive for recommendations to be
given to a future Council meeting.

NATIONAL FILM CIRCUIT. The

resolution, which called on the
Government to establish a National
Film Circuit in order to stimulate
British production and give scope
to independent pictures would be
sent to the President of the Board
of Trade, the Film Committees of
both the Labour and Conservative
Parties, and the other film unions;
it was also referred to the Legis-
lation Committee to discuss how

April 1957

FILM & TV TECHNICIAN

the A.C.T.T.'s national film policy
could be popularised.

FEATURE FILM AGREEMENT.

The Feature Branch Committee
and Feature Negotiating Com-
mittee were asked to make their
joint recommendations to the
Executive on the resolution de-
manding immediate negotiations
with the B.F.P.A. for a substan-
tial wage increase for all members
covered by the B.F.P.A. /A.C.T.T.
Feature Agreement, as well as on
the resolution that called for an
examination of the supplementary
grades in the B.F.P.A. Agreement
with a view to including certain
of them in the ordinary schedule.

KODACHROME PROCESSING.

The request from Colour Film Ser-
vices members to negotiate with
the F.L.A. the inclusion of Koda-
chrome in the Integral Tripack
Agreement was considered and re-
ferred to C.F.S. members for them
to prepare a case for presenting
to the F.L.A.

TELEVISION. The two resolu-
tions on this subject were con-
sidered in the light of the debates
at the A.G.M., which were fully
reported in the Film & TV Tech-
nician last month; in parti-
cular, the need for a fast time-
table in negotiating a new TV
Agreement with the Programme
Contractors' Association was

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stressed by a number of Council
members and Shop Stewards from
all side of the industry. The first
resolution, which among other
things drew the attention of the
Postmaster-General and the T.TJ.C.
to the fact that the B.B.C. still
refused to recognise A.C.T.T. in
the television field, would be sent
to the Postmaster-General and the
T.U.C. It was further agreed that
an Organiser should be allocated
full-time to TV work, and that the
Finance and General Purposes
Committee should go into the need
to engage extra Head Office staff
in consultation with George Elvin.
The whole question of recognition
for A.C.T.T. by the B.B.C. was
referred to the Executive.

FOREIGN LOCATIONS. After a
lengthy discussion it was agreed to
circularise all Shop Stewards with
the resolution urging that no
member of A.C.T.T. should be
allowed to proceed on film or TV
foreign location, with the excep-
tion of urgent newsreel assign-
ments, without notifying Head
Office and checking that the terms
and conditions of the location had
been cleared.

DEATH OF
ARTHUR BUSHNELL

We announce with deep regret
the death of Arthur Bushnell,
known to everybody as " Busby ",
who first joined the industry
during Rome Express at Lime
Grove. He started from the Royal
Navy, where he was a telegraphist,
on maintenance, and became mixer
for G.B. News after the 1937
close-down.

" Busby " was the happiest man
in the studios and had the readiest
and most infectious laughter I
have ever known. One executive
said it was impossible to tell Busby
off; he just laughed in your face.

Busby was a staunch trade
unionist, not one of the spectacular
type but of the solid kind that
every organiser and shop steward
likes to have behind him. He
started with the E.T.U. (Sound
Branch) at a time when it was
dangerous to admit you were in a
trade union and changed to
A.C.T.T. with the other sound men.

Everybody who knew him will
miss him.

H.L.B.

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FILM & TV TECHNICIAN

April 1957

LAB TOPICS — By A If Cooper

At the first meeting of the
Laboratories Committee after the
A.G.M. Daphne Le Brun was again
elected as Secretary, George Irons
re-elected as Vice-Chairman and
myself as Chairman. The commit-
tee also officially recorded their
appreciation and thanks for the
work put in for the Labs by Bessie
Bond during the year.

The Committee directed that the
new General Council be asked to
look into ways and means of pur-
suing a stronger and more
vigorous campaign to remove the
iniquitous regulation in the Un-
employment Act which enables the
employers to lock out employees
and thus, with the aid of this Gov-
ernment regulation, starve the
workers into submission because
unemployment pay is not forth-
coming.

Strong Feeling

As you know, all the Lab boys
feel most strongly about this one-
sided Act. It is to be hoped that
the new General Council, with the
aid of progressive M.P.s and the
T.U.C., will get this matter put
right in the near future. It is only
fair to state here that the General
Council has made a lot of progress
in this direction but it still has a
long way to go.

During the Lab Committee meet-
ing, Alf Hunter, who has been
attending the Committee on behalf
of Colour Film Services for the
last eighteen months, handed in his
resignation because his wife's ill
health makes it impossible for him
to be absent from home during the
evenings. The Committee ex-
pressed its regret at hearing this
news and thanked Alf for the
great amount of work and effort
he has put in for A.C.T.T. during
his period as Shop Steward at
Colour Film Services.

Alf has been with the Union
something like twelve years and on
leaving Technicolor soon found
himself a Shop Steward's ticket.
We all sincerely hope that his
wife's health will soon improve.

Some of the Committee members
were invited to attend the next
meeting of Colour Film Services.
Bill Whittemore from Humphries,
Laurie Ward of Kays, Finsbury
Park, and I went along to this
meeting on the following Friday
evening and had a very enjoyable
time among a bunch of good, loyal
Union boys.

At the moment our members at
Colour Film Services are working
without the protection of a full
Trade Union Agreement. This is
one of the points the meeting de-
cided must be put right in the very
near future and so, having elected
a new shop steward and committee,
they mandated them very force-

fully to get on with the job of
preparing a document ready for
joint signature with the manage-
ment.

Peter Booker was elected as
Shop Steward and Alf Hunter as
his deputy, Bob Catford was re-
elected Chairman and Ted Davies
as Shop Secretary.

We all wish the C.F.S. boys good
luck with their Agreement and, as
always, we will give them all the
support and help that may be re-
quired.

Shorts & Documentary Section

STEVE COX WRITES :

Our Section A.G.M. held at the
Mezzanine Theatre, Shell Mex
House, on March 26th, was very
successful, and very well attended.

The Secretary's report led to
some discussion regarding adver-
tising agents and companies
making TV commercials. Helpful
contributions were made from the
floor and I am sure the new Com-
mittee, will note the points raised.

New Committee

The new committee elected at
the meeting is as follows: Shorts
Vice-President Max Anderson,
Chairman; Eric Pask, Vice-Chair-
man, and Steve Cox, Secretary;
Committee members : Ralph Bond,
Gloria Sachs, Chris Brunei, Derek
Knight, Ralph Sheldon, Lindsay
Anderson, Joe Telford, Alun Fal-
coner and Denis Segaller.

It will probably be noticed that
we have six new faces on the Com-
mittee to look after our interests
for the next twelve months. On
behalf of the Section I should like
to thank the members who were
not re-elected for their services
during their term of office.

Now, as Secretary, I want to
apologise to Bessie Bond, our
Organiser, for not mentioning in
my report the assistance and guid-
ance she has given us and all the
work she has done for our Section.
Thank you, Bessie, and please ex-
cuse my thoughtlessness.

To wind up the meeting we had
a viewing of Song of the Clouds,
a colour film made by the Shell
Film Unit and directed by John
Armstrong.

Sponsored by Shell, the film dealt
with air travel on the major air-
lines of the world. It is intended

for non-theatrical distribution.

After the showing, John Arm-
strong took the Chair to be " shot
at " during the discussion. The
general feeling was that the com-
mentary was poor, that the music
didn't do what effects could have
done, and that the passengers, or
tourists, gave the impression of not
leaving the ground. But the photo-
graphy was first class.

Personally, I also felt that
dozens of aircraft were leaving the
airstrip together, and it seemed a
miracle that there wasn't a " pile-
up ".

Didn't Come Off

To sum up the discussion, it
seems as though something big in
Documentary had been attempted,
but that it didn't come off.

We also saw another Shell Film,
directed by Denis Segaller, called
Lubrication in Industry. This film
had a " gimmick " of going alter-
nately from black and white to
colour. There was no time for dis-
cussion afterwards, but I did glean
some points of view, which all
boiled down to the fact that the
" gimmick " wasn't necessary. "All
or none ", was the verdict.

Now for the News; and what a
news flash ! For making this an-
nouncement I shall probably have
my invitation withdrawn ! Many of
our members in Shorts and in
the Labs may be surprised to read
this. Eric Pask, our Vice-Chairman,
has decided that being a bachelor
calls for paying too much income
tax, so on May 11th he is going to
the altar with a very charming
Brummie lass, Joan Robinson. The
wedding and reception will take
place at Birmingham. Best of
luck Eric and Joan (I say this on
behalf of all of vou).

April 1957

FILM & TV TECHNICIAN

• NO NEED TO LOOK TWICE . . .

^ ... once is sufficient to see the noticeable improvement in all films when masked printed

by Colour Film Services Limited— Britain's biggest 16 mm Kodachrome laboratory.

22-25 PORTMAN CLOSE • BAKER STREET • LONDON • W.l. Telephone: Hunter 0408-9

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FILM & TV TECHNICIAN

April 1957

a clear case for

ILFORD HP3 & FP3

35 mm cine negatives

Columbia Pictures present a Maxwell Setton Production

JOHN MILLS ■ CHARLES COBURN
and BARBARA BATES

m TOWN ON TRIAL

also starring DEREK FARR

and introducing Elizabeth Seal

Screenplay by Robert Westerby and Ken Hughes

Produced by Maxwell Setton

Directed by John Guillermin

Director of Photography : Basil Emmott

Photographically speaking exposures are invariably a problem
for a Director of Photography. In this man-by-man murder
puzzle Basil Emmott was very satisfied with the results he
obtained from using Ilford HP3 and FP3 cine negatives.

ILFORD HP3& FP3

35 mm cine negatives

Ilford Limited Cine Sales Department 104 Hts;h Ho/born London W.C.I ' Holborn 3401

Published by the Proprietors, The Association of Cinematograph, Television and allied Technicians, 2 Soho
Square, London, and Printed by Watford Printers Limited. Watford, Herts.

MAY .... 1957

Association of Cinematograph, Television and Allied Technicians
Vol. 23 No 149 PRICE 6d.

JOHN DAVIS
LOOKS AHEAD

TV PRODUCTION
FILM OR 'LIVE' ?

GENERAL COUNCIL

AND

FOREIGN TECHNICIANS

Charlie Chaplin in the British Film "A King in New York'

FILM & TV TECHNICIAN

May 1957

• NO NEED TO LOOK TWICE . . .

, ... once is sufficient to see the noticeable improvement in all films when masked printed

by Colour Film Services Limited— Britain's biggest 16 MM Kodachrome laboratory.

22-25 PORTMAN CLOSE • BAKER STREET • LONDON • W.l. Telephone: Hunter 0408-9

GGGGGGGOGGGGGGGGGOGGGGOGGOGGOOGGGGOGOGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGCGGGGGGGGGGOGGGGGGQr

May 1957

FILM & TV TECHNICIAN

'* Vtattum of ModJ^I Art

EDITORIAL

JOHN DAVIS LOOKS INTO THE

FUTURE

TYJE can well understand little
" enthusiasm being displayed by
the delegates to the Summer Con-
ference of the Cinematograph Ex-
hibitors' Association when listen-
ing to the paper read by their
guest and fellow-member Mr. John
Davis. After all no one likes be-
ing told they are out of date, ineffi-
cient, excessive in number and will
have to go out of business, stric-
tures which, as the speaker said,
applied to many of Mr. Davis's
audience. You like it less still
when told the facts of life by the
managing director of the in-
dustry's biggest combine which
very much intends to stay in busi-
ness, whoever else is forced to the
wall. But it is not out of sympathy
for impoverished and incompetent
cinema-owners that we adopt the
unusual course of summarising at
length in subsequent pages the
address given by Mr. Davis. Our
views and policy on the economics
of the monopolistic tendencies in
the industry are well known. It is
because Mr. Davis is one of the
largest and certainly the most in-
fluential employer of our members
and the first person, other than the
Trade Unions, who has given real
thought to the place of films in a
changing world.

One of the most significant
views he expresses is the anticipa-
tion that Hollywood will lose its
grip on the world's markets.
Whether this is coloured by the
fact that the American industry
doesn't like Mr. Davis — and we
hazard the reverse also holds good
— is a matter of conjecture. Be-
cause of American product short-
age Mr. Davis anticipates an in-
creasing number of dubbed foreign
films being shown on our screens,
the European films commanding
quotas as British films do now. If
such films are shown at the ex-
pense of American films the idea
is well worth investigating, and
the intention is to have a Euro-
pean Common Market to smash

the stranglehold Hollywood has
had on our screens for the past
forty years. However, we don't
think shortage of product alone,
particularly bearing in mind the
change in exhibiting technique by
road showing and longer runs, will
necessarily lead to America losing
its grip on the world's markets.
But we must at all costs avoid a
position whereby on the score of
European unity we destroy the
individuality of each national pro-
duction industry — and incidentally
adversely affect employment — as
in that course lies death not life.
But as members know, all the
problems of co-production, impli-
cit in Mr. Davis's proposals, were
discussed as recently as our last
Annual General Meeting.

One gathers that Mr. Davis
almost sees the motor-car as a
greater competitor to the cinema
than television. A rather odd
thought from the man who distri-
buted Genevieve'. But at least
he is right in coming round to our
point of view that cinema films
and television are complementary
parts of one big entertainment in-
dustry, and it is foolish for one to
continue to seek to ignore and try
to combat the existence of the
other.

But when it comes to solutions
we must part company with Mr.
Davis. Rationalisation, modernisa-
tion, efficiency — all, of course, ad-
mirable in themselves — are his
solution. No mention is made of
the tightening monopolistic con-
trol which such processes will put
in his, and
others', hands;
no thought of the
social implica-
tions of his
policy; certainly
no word about
the workers who
are to lose their
jobs through
these processes.

We welcome Mr. Davis making
his statement. We applaud its
lucidity. We are grateful for his
criticisms of incompetent and out-
moded exhibiting and renting in-
terests. Many of the problems
posed are vital. A number of his
thoughts are new and should be
examined by us all. The joint
committee of the British Film Pro-
ducers' Association and the Trade
Unions should discuss them. But
in so doing we must face up to
the issue, which Mr. Davis ignores,
that in passing from a haphazard
industry to a ruthlessly efficient
one, meeting all the challenges of
the times, we also have to safe-
guard both the public good and
that of the workers in the industry
by having that measure of public
control, social ownership and joint
industrial responsibility which is
essential for those purposes.

Our New Cover

E appear this month in our
new cover, which symbolises
the growing importance of Tele-
vision. The design, by Jack Timms,
Lettering Artist at Denham, was
the winning entry in our Cover
Design Competition. This month's
cover still shows A.C.T.T.'s most
recent Honorary Member, Charlie
Chaplin, in the British film A King
in New York, which was shot at
Shepperton Studios. The film is
distributed in the United Kingdom
by Archway Film Distributors, to
whom we are indebted for the still.

FILM & TV TECHNICIAN

Editor: MARTIN CHISHOLM

Editorial Office:

2 SOHO SQUARE, W.l (GERrard 8506)

Advertisement Office:

5 & 6 RED LION SQ., W.C.I (HOLborn 4972)

FILM & TV TECHNICIAN

May 1957

Tj^OCUS this month is on the Tele-
-*- vision side. At the time of
going to press our Television
members have endorsed the Tele-
vision Agreement proposals and
they have been sent to the Pro-
gramme Contractors. It is a
worthwhile question to ask
whether the Association of Broad-
casting Staffs has put its nego-
tiating proposals before its mem-
bership in commercial television.

In the meantime, local repre-
sentations from A.C.T.T. in
Granada and A.R.T.V. have won
high premium payments for the
staffs over Easter. Our policy of
local achievement as well as the
struggle for a proper national
agreement is winning increasing
membership in such companies as
Alpha Television in Birmingham
and A.T.V. in London.

It is perhaps symbolic of the
situation in commercial Television
and the difficulties of obtaining
just rates and conditions for tech-
nicians that a contract reputed to
be worth over £100,000 per year
has recently been signed for the
purpose of supplying " audience
data ". For the purpose of supply-
ing top technical ability the re-
sources seem to be a little more
reluctant.

Under Fire!

Typical— but not too typical,
I hope — of the hazards of working
in Television is the experience suf-
fered by Herbert Wise, director of
Granada's Under Fire programme.
The programme has two M.P.s in
London questioned by an audience
in the Manchester studio on some
burning issue of the day.

On this occasion the M.P.s were
under fire from the local doctors
concerning the B.M.A.'s pay claim
^"i their behalf. Herbert was busy
in the last hour before the pro-
gramme went on the air organis-
ing the main spokesmen — reassur-
ing the doctors on their first TV
i|" 'arance. The last points had
boon cleared up, everyone was
keyed up ready to go on the air
when in walks a technician and
anxiously announces that the

Government has awarded a pay
increase to the doctors!

For several horrible minutes it
seemed that not only was the pro-
gramme " under fire " but rapidly
going down in flames. Luckily it
turned out that the news an-
nouncement had been misinter-
preted and the doctors were able
to go forward with their interro-
gation.

Herbert Wise seemed to take the
situation calmly enough — one can
only suppose that experiences like
this in TV are added to the ulcer
bill. For Herbert the evening had
only started with this incident.
Midnight found him in the outer
reaches of Manchester helping to
change the tyre on his taxi!

Quote . . .

The " Daily Express" — certainly
no lover of commercial Television,
but like our members, very con-
cerned about the amount of filmeo*
American material that is appear-
ing on TV recently, had this to
say, " The B.B.C.'s leaning to-
wards American TV this week
adds up to a solid 8 hours 20
minutes of States-side imported
stuff. . . . Even commercial TV,
notorious customer for the Ameri-
can stockpile of canned film, could
not compete . . . we are being bull-
dozed by noise, dubbed applause,
and slickness, into a state of
hypnotism ... if the B.B.C. sets its
mind to paying, nurturing, and
giving the same professional treat-
ment to British script writers as

The TV Quiz Show is, by Ameri-
can standards, I suppose, still
much in its infancy. The whole
operation would seem to be a
pretty innocent one. From an
article in Time magazine this
would seem to be far from the
case with the myriad quiz pro-
grammes on the U.S. Television
Networks.

Time asks the question " Are
the quiz shows rigged? " and
answers it by saying that the pro-
ducers of many quiz shows control
the outcome as closely as they
dare — without the actual collusion
of the contestants.

So little is apparently left to
chance that a new group of crafts-
men calling themselves " audience
participation comedy writers " has
arisen. On some shows they even
write the ad-lib banter between
contestant and questionmaster.

One of the biggest problems
seems to be how to get rid of the
contestant who does not make

To get rid of the contestant "

good entertainment and how to
encourage the dramatic person-
ality who might fall down on the
tough question. On one show
candidates cannot qualify for the
show without taking a four-hour,
363-question test. Said one pro-
fessor, " The questioning was com-
parable to an oral exam, for a
Ph.D."

Veteran Honoured

Veteran Producer - Director,
Adrian Brunei, father of Chris
Brunei, Executive Committee
member, was recently in Italy
and was honoured by the Mayor
of Rome. He was presented with
a silver medal in recognition of his
writings on that city. Adrian
Brunei's writings have not been
confined to travel. Younger mem-
bers should find " Nice Work ",
Adrian's autobiography, a witty
and instructive story of the early
struggles of the industry.

". . . into a state of hynotism "

the Americans give to theirs, we
might have a better product, and
less dollar buying."

JtfCJ^

FILM & TV TECHNICIAN SUPPLEMENT

May 1957

Guide to British Film
Makers

THE MAN IN THE SKY

Year of Production: 1956.

Studio: M.G.M. British Studios.

Laboratory: Humphries.

Producing Company: Ealing Films
Limited.

Producer: Sir Michael Balcon.

Stars : Jack Hawkins, Elizabeth Sellars.

Associate Producer: Seth Holt.

Director: Charles Crichton.

Camera Department: Lighting Camera-
man, Douglas Slocombe; Camera
Operator. Chic Waterson ; 1st Camera
Assistant (Focus), Herbert Smith;
Other Camera Assistant, Michael
Sarafian ; Second Camera Operator,
Hugh Wilson.

Bound Department: Recordist (Mixer),
Norman King; Sound Camera Opera-
tor, Eric Stockl; Boom Operator,
Cyril Swern; Other Assistant, Ray
Palmer; Dubbing Crew, J. B. Smith,
J. Bramwell, W. Carr, C. Jones.

Art Department: Art Director, Jim
Morahan; Assistant Art Director,
Alan Withy; Draughtsman, Kenneth
Tait.

Editing Department: Editor, Peter
Tanner; Assembly Cutter, Harry
Aldous; Other Assistant, Robin
Clarke; Dubbing Editor, Alastair
Mclntyre.

Production Department : Production
Manager and/or Unit Production
Manager, Spike Priggen; 1st Assis-
tant Director, Tom Pevsner; 2nd
Assistant Directors, Michael Birkett,
John Meadows; 3rd Assistant Direc-
tor, Ronald Purdie; Continuity, Jean
Graham; Assistant Continuity, Lee
Turner; Production Secretary, Daphne
Paice.

Stills Department: Still Cameraman,
Roy Gough; 2nd Cameraman, Gordon
Dines.

Publicity Director: Jack Worrow.

NO ROAD BACK

Year of Production : 1956.

Studio: Walton Studios Limited.

Laboratory : Rank Labs, Denham.

Producing Company: Gibraltar Pic-
tures.

Producer: Steven Pallos.

Associate Producer: Charles A. Leeds.

Stars: Skip Homier, Paul Carpentei ,
Patricia Dainton.

Director: Montgomery Tully.

Scenarists: C. A. Leeds, M. Tully.

Camera Department: Lighting Camera-
man, Lionel Banes; Camera Operator,
Leo Rogers; 1st Camera Assistant
(Focus), Mark Hyams; Other Camera
Assistant, D. Area.

Sound Department: Recordist (Mixer),
W. Lindop; Sound Camera Operator,
H. Raynham ; Boom Operator. G.
Humphries; Maintenance, C. Earl;
Dubbing Crew, R.C.A.

Art Department: Art Director, John
Stoll; Draughtsmen, Supplied by
Walton.

Editing Department: Editor, James
Connock; Assembly Cutter, Edward
Jeffries; Dubbing Editor, James Con-
nock.

Production Department: Production
Manager and/or Unit Production
Manager, Robert Dearing; 1st Assis-
tant Director, George Pollard ; 2nd
Assistant Director, Paul Freeman ;
Continuity, Barbara Thomas; Pro-
duction Secretary, Maureen Meldon.

Stills Department: Still Cameraman.
Ricky Smith.

Publicity Department: Publicity Direc-
tor, Horrace Beck.

HOSTAGE

Year of Production: 1956.

Studio: New Elstree Studios.

Laboratory: Humphries Laboratories.

Producing Company: Westridge Pro-
ductions.

Producer: Thomas Clyde.

Stars: Ron Randell, Mary Parker.

Director: Harold Huth.

Camera Department: Lighting Camera-
man, Brendan J. Stafford ; Camera
Operator, Leo Rogers ; 1st Camera
Assistant (Focus), Monty Tomblin.

Sound Department: Recordist (Mixer).
Stanley J. Smart; Sound Camera
Operator, Derek Monk; Boom Opera-
tor, Ted Belcher.

Art Department: Art Director, Harrv
White.

Editing Department: Editor, Peter
Pitt; Dubbing Editor, Harry Booth.

Production Department : Production
Manager, Barry Delmaine; 1st Assis-
tant Director, David Tomblin; 2nd
Assistant Director, John Roddicit;
Continuity, Barbara Wainwright.

Stills Department: Still Cameraman.
Cyril Stanborough.

Production Secretary: Gladys Houck.

UP IN THE WORLD

Year of Production : 1956.

Studio: Pinewood.

Laboratory: Rank Laboratories (Den-
ham) Ltd.

Producing Company: Rank Organisa-
tion Film Productions Ltd.

Producer: Hugh Stewart.

Stars: Norman Wisdom, Jerry Des-
monde, Maureen Swanson, Michael
Caridia.

Prodtiction Controller: Arthur Alcott.

Director: John Paddy Carstairs.

Scenarists: Jack Davies, Henry E.
Blyth, Peter Blackmore.

Camera Department : Lighting Camera-
man, Jack Cox; Camera Operator,
Dudley Lovell ; 1st Camera Assistant
(Focus), Jim Devis: Other Camera
Assistant, Kenneth Coles.

Souyid Department: Recordist (Mixer).
Dudley Messenger; Sound Camera
Operator, Charles Arnold;- Boom
Operator, John Salter; Boom Assis-
tant, A. Carverhill; Music, Ted
Drake; Dubbing Crew. Gordon K.
McCallum, W. Daniels, C. Le Mes-
surier.

Art Department: Art Director, Cedric
Dawe ; Assistant Art Director (Set),
Graham Goodwin; Draughtsmen. Jack
Shampan (Chief). Bob Cartwright,
Bruce Grimes.

Editing Department: Editor. John
Shirley; Assembly Cutter, Peter
Flack: Other Assistants, Michael
Edmonds, Peter Taylor; Dubbing
Editors, Jimmy Groom (Asst.), Les
Wiggins.

Production Department: Production
Manager, Jack Hicks; 1st Assistant
Director, Pat Marsden ; 2nd Assistant
Director, Luciano Sacripanti; 3rd
Assistant Director, Dominic Fulford ;
Continuity, Joan Davis: Assistant
Continuity, Maureen Hensby; Pro-
duction Secretary, Ruth Grossman.

Stills Department: Still Cameraman.
Albert Clarke.

Special Processes: W. Warrington.
Bert Marshall, C. Culley, F. George.
Unit Publicist: George Mason.

THE SPANISH GARDENER

Year of Production : 1956.

Studio: Pinewood.

Laboratory: Technicolor.

Producing Company: Rank Organisa-
tion Film Productions Limited.

Producer: John Bryan.

Production Controller: Arthur Alcott.

Stars: Dirk Bogarde, Jon Whiteley,
Michael Hordern, Lyndon Brook.
Geoffrey Keen, Josephine Griffin.
Rosalie Crutchley, Maureen Swanson.
Cyril Cusack.

Director: Phil Leacock.

Camera Department: Lighting Camera-
man: Chris Challis; Camera Opera-
tor, Austin Dempster; 1st Camera
Assistant (Focus), Steve Claydon ;
Other Camera Assistant, Michael Fox.

Sound Department: Recordist (Mixer),
John W. Mitchell; Sound Camera
Operator, Ron Butcher; Boom Opera-
tor, J. W. N. Daniel: Boom Assis-
tant, R. Charman; Music, Ted Drake;
Dubbing Crew, Gordon K. McCallum.
W. Daniels, C. Le Messurier; Sound
Maintenance (Location). Austin Part-
ridge.

Art Department: Art Director. Maurice
Carter; Assistant Art Director (Set),
Vernon Dixon ; Draughtsmen, Bert
Davey (Chief), Ramsay Short, John
Jones, Bob Cartwright.

Editing Department: Editor, Reg
Mills; Assembly Cutter, Noreen
Ackland; Other Assistant, Peter
Bushell; Dubbing Editors. Harry
Miller, Barbara Rodwell (Asst.).

Production Department: Pioduction
Manager, Peter Manley: 1st Assistant
Director, Harold Orton ; 2nd Assis-
tant Director. Charles Hammond; 3rd
Assistant Director. Peter Carey; Con-
tinuity, Joan Davies; Production
Secretary, Jean Tisdall.

Stills Department: Still Cameraman.
Norman Gryspeerdt.

Dress Designer: Maggie Furze.

Unit Publicist: Jean Osborne.

YOU PAY YOUR MONEY

Year of Production: 1956.

Studio: Walton-on-Thames.

Laboratory: Kays Laboratories Ltd.

Producer: W. G. Chalmers.

Stars: Hugh McDermott, Jane Hylton,
Honor Blackman.

Director: Maclean Rogers.

Scenarist : Maclean Rogers.

Camera Department: Lighting Camera-
man, Jimmie Harvey ; Camera Opera-
tor, Des Davis ; 1st Camera Assistant
(Focus), Manny Winn.

Sound Department: Recordist (Mixer).
Freddie Ryan; Sound Camera Opera-
tor, Terry Sharrat ; Boom Operator,
D. Somerset: Maintenance, G. Barnes.

Art Department: Art Director, Bill
Dennison.

Editing Department: Editor, Ben
Hipkins; 1st Assistant, D. Hipkins.

Production Department: Production
Manager and /or Unit Production
Manager, Fraser Foulsham ; 1st Assis-
tant Director, Ralph McCormick; 2nd
Assistant Director, Harvev Woods;
Continuity, Margery Lavelly; Pro-
duction Secretary. Sheila O'Donnell.

Stills Department: Still Cameraman.
Douglas Webb.

FILJVl & TV TECHNICIAN SUPPLEMENT

May 1957

odom.o

The sound crew responsible for all
Post /Synch (with the exception of one
character) and all music sessions in
Odongo (see March Supplement) were
Maurice Askew (Mixer), Bill Germain
(Assistant Mixer and Boom), Edward
Li. Nakhimoff (Sound Camera Opera 01
George Lewis (Maintenanci l

TIGER IN THE SMOKE

Year of Production 11)50.

Studio: Pinewood.

Laboratory. Rank Laboratories (Den-
ham) Limited.

Producing Company: Rank Organisa-
tion Film Productions Ltd.

Producer: Leslie Parkyn.

Production Controller: Arthur Alrott.

Stars: Muriel Pavlow. Donald Sindcn,
Tony Wright.

Director: Roy Baker.

Scenarist: Anthony Pelis ii 1

Camera Department: Lighting Camera
man, Geoff Unsworth; Camera Op' re
tor, .la k Atcheler; 1st Camera A
tant (Focus). John Alcott; Other
Camera Assistant. Jack Ri son;
Second Camera Operator, Robin
Vidgeon.

Sound Department: Recordist (Mixer),
Geoff Daniels; Sound Camera Opera
tor, D. Barnett; Boom Operators.
Pat Wheeler. R. Charman : Dubbing
Crew, Gordon K. McCallum. V
Daniels, C. Le Messurier; Music, T I
Drake.

Art Department: Art Director, Jack
Maxsted; Assistant Art Director (Set),
Len Townsend; Draughtsmen, H.
Pottle (Chief), Tony Rimmington.
Peter Lamont, Bob Eadie; Dre
Designer, Joan Ellacott.

Editing Department: Editor, John
Guthridge; Assembly Cutter, Jim
Kelly; Other Assistant, Maureen
Howard; Dubbing Editor, Roger
Cherrill; Dubbing Assistants, Stan
Fiferman, Peter Pennell.

Production Department: Production
Manager, Fred Swan ; 1st Assistant
Director, Peter Manley; 2nd Assis-
tant Director, Tat Clayton; 3rd Assis-
tant Director, Ron Jackson: Con-
tinuity, Penny Daniels; Production
Secretary, Pauline Davies.

Stills Department: Still Camerama 1,
Charles Trigg.

Special Processes: W. Warrington
Bert Marshall, C. Culley, Syd Pear-
son.

Unit Publicist: Bob Herrington.

MORNING CALL

Year of Production: 1957.

Studio: Walton.

Laboratory Kays

Producing Company: Winwell Prod 11
tions Ltd.

Producers: Bill Luckwell, D. E. A.
Winn.

Stars: Ron Randell, Greta Gynt.

Director: Arthur Crabtree.

Screenplay: Bill Luckwell, Len Town,
end

Camera Department: Lighting Cami
man, James Harvey: Camera Opera
tor, Desmond Davis: 1st Camera
Assistant 1 Focus). Manny Vosoa :
other Camera Assistant, Petei Ma
Donald.

Sound Department Recordist (Mixer)
Bernie Brown; Sound Camera Opera
lor. Aubrey Lewis; Boom Operator,
Kevin Sutton; Sound Maintenance
Charles Earl.

Art Department: Art Director, John

Stoll.

l-'il'tuni Department: Editor John
Ferris; 1st Assistant. Lollette Currie.

Production Department: Production
Manager and/or Unit Production
Manager, Clive Midwinter; 1st Assis
tant Director. Stanlej Goulder; 2nd

A istant Direct or, T< m Wallis; Con-
tinuity, Peggy Anderson; Produ ti
Seci 1 I an Attrill.

stills Departm nt Still Cameraman,
Cyril Stanborough.

FORTUNE IS A WOMAN

Y< 'if of Production: 1956 7.

Studio: Shepperton Studios.

/ , nh in atoi a 11 umphries.

I'i mlii, mo Company: John Harvel
Product ions Ltd.

Producers: Frank Launder and Sidnev
Gilli.it

Associate Producer: Leslie Gilliat

Stars: Jack Hawkins, Arlene ' ahl
Dennis Price, Ian Hunter, Bernard
Miles.

Director: Sidney Gilliat.

Scenarists: Sidney Gilliat. Frank
Launder and Val Valentin.

Camera Department: Lighting Camera
man, Gerald Gibbs; Camera Operator,
Alan Hume; 1st Camera Assistant
(Focus), Godfrey Godar; Other
Camera Assistant, Ian Muir.

Sound Department: Recordist (Mixer),
John Aldred ; Sound Camera

Operator, Desmond Edwards; Boom
Operator. Charles Wheeler; Other
Assistant (Maintenance), Georgi
Widdows; Dubbing Crew. Red Law.
Paddy Cunningham.

Art Department: Art Director, Wilfrid
Shingleton; Assistant Art Director.
Frank Wilson; Draughtsmen. Martin
Atkinson and Mrs. James Levis:
Set Dresser. Kenneth Bridgeman :
Dress Designer, Anthony Mendleson.

Editing Depart mint: Editor, Geoffrey
Foot; 1st Assistant. Michael Hart;
Other A sistants, Marcel Durham,
Alan Corder. Charles Morgan :
Dubbing Editor. Chris Greenham.

Production Department: Production
Manager and/or Unit Production
Manager, Roy Parkinson: 1st Assis-
tant Director. Douglas Hermes; 2nd
Assistant Director, Peter Price; 3rd
Assistant Director, Roy Baird; Con-
tinuity, Phyllis Crocker; Production
Secretary, Cynthia Maugham.

Stills Department: Still Cameraman,
John Jay.

Special Processes: Wally Veevers,
George Samuels.

Publicity Department Publicity

Director, Robin Grocott.

ASSIGNMENT REDHEAD

)', ar of Production : 195G.

Studio Nettlefold Studios, Walton-on

Thames.
Laboratory: Kays Laboratories.
Producing Company: Butcher' Film

Productions Ltd.
Producer: W. G. Chalmers.
Stars: Richard Denning. Carole

Mathews.
liin ,-lir Marl' ari I 'oners.

Icenarist: Maclean Rogers.

Camera Department : Lighting Camel :
man. Ernie Palmer: Camera Opera
tor. Nobby Smith; 1st Camera Assis-
tant (Focus), Eric Williams

Sound Department: Recordist (Mixer),
S. Squires; Sound Camera OperatOl
A. Lewis; Boom Operator, Robin
Clegg 1 Dubbing Crew, : I C * Ham
mersmith; Maintenance, F. Tomlin

Art !>• partmt n< \r\ Director, John

Stoll.

Editing Department: Supervising

Editor. Peter Mayhew; Assistant
Editor. Ernie Hosier.

Production Department Production
Manager and/or Unit Production
Manager, Clive Midwinter; 1st Assis-
tant Director. Don Wcrks: 2nd Assis
tant Dire, tor. Stanley Goulder; Con-
tinuity. Yvonne Richards: Production
Secretary, Cynthia Maugham.

stills Department: Still Cameraman
Rickie Smith.

THE KEY MAN

Y, in ni Production 1957

Melton '

Laboratory : Denham.

Producing Company Anglo-Guild Pro
ductions.

Producei Ui C Snowden.

Associati I 1 ,,, ii,, 1 1 j. O'Connolly.

stars. Lee Patterson, Hy Hazell, Colin
Gordon, Philip Li

Director: Montgomery Tully.

Si 1 narisi . J. Mai lai en Ro

Camera Department: Lighting Camera-
man, Philip Grindrod; Camera Opera-
tor. Bernard Lewis: 1st Cat
Assistant (Focus), Peter J,
Other Camera Assistants, I. M. Millan.

Sound Department Recordist (Mi
Keith Barber: Sound Camei, <
tor, Arthur Vincent; Boom Operator,
Tom Otter: Boom Assistant, Keith
Pamplin; Dubbing Crew. Re
Abbott.

Art Department: Art Director, Wilfred
Arnold: Assistant Art Director,
William Holmes.

Editing Department: Editor. E)
Hilton; Dubbing Editor. Derek
Holding.

Production Department: Produ
Manager, William Shore; 1st Assis-
tant Director, Derek Whitehurst;
2nd Assistant Director, Charles Mans-
bridge; 3rd Assistant Director, John
Kane Archer,

stills Department: Still Cameraman,
Frank Otlev.

SEVEN WAVES AWAY

Year of Production 1956.

S'lulio: Shepperton Studios, Middx.

Laboratory: Denham Laboratories.

Producing Company: Copa Productions
Limited.

Executive Producer: T. H. Richmond.

Producer: John R. Sloan.

Stars: Tyrone Power. Mai Zetterling,
Lloyd Nolan.

Directors: Richard Sale: 2nd Unit.
D. Eady.

Scenarist: Richard Sale.

Camera Department Lighting Camera-
man, Wilkie Cooper Cat a 1 1
tor, Ronnie Taylor; 1st Camera Assis-
tant 1 Focus), Michai 1 Wil oi 1 1

Unit, M. Hyams); Other Camera
Assistants, R. Etherington. J. Salis-
bury, David Griffiths; Second Unit
Camera Operator, G. W. Kelly.

Sound Department Recordist (Mixet
W. S. Salter; Sound Camera Operator.
H. Tate; Boom Operators, C Wheeler
and C. Hitchcock: Other Assistant
("Maintenance), George Widdows:
Dubbing Crew. Red Law, P. Cun-
ningham

Art Department: Production Designer.
Wilfrid Shingleton: Art Director,
Ray Simm; Assistant Art Dire<
Frank Willson

Editing Department: Editor. Raymond
Poulton ; Assembly Cutter, Valerie
Leslie: 1st Assistant. Peter Kei 1
Other Assistant. Karen He ward:
Dubbing Editor. Winston 1;
Assistant Dubbing Editor. P. Mus-
grave.

Production Department: "rode
Manager and /or Unit Production
Manager. R. L. M. Davidson: 1st
Assistant Directors, Basil Keys <-nd
Unit. P. Crowhurst): 2nd Assistant
Dire, tors. Albert Pearl, then E. W.
Hill and David Bracknell ; 3rd Assis-
tant Directors. E3. W. Hill, then .1 S
Angus; Location Manager. Martin
Schute; Continuity. Betty Forster:
Production Secretary, Inez Eiston

Stills Department: Still Cameramen.
Eric Gray C.'nd Unit A. Evansi.

Special Processes: Wally Veevers.

Publicity Department: Publicity

Director. Catherine O'Brien.

Scenic Artists Gilbert Wood. J.
Macky. T. Samuels. Rasil Manning

May 1957

FILM & TV TECHNICIAN

'1*9 My^.m of Mcxjvfn Aft
&I3SARI 69

w-...

A Technician's Notebook

THE B.J. ALMANAC

A LONG with all the other pheno-
£*■ mena of spring we welcome
once again the British Journal
Photographic Almanac making its
98th annual appearance. And once
again we marvel at the prodigious
amount of material packed into so
compact a volume.

In order and lay-out the con-
tents follow the traditional pat-
tern; the regular Almanac reader,
I think it is true to say, can turn
up the section he wishes to con-
sult, if not blindfold, at any rate
without looking it up in the table
of contents.

" Physics and Metaphysics "

First come the special articles
headed by the one for which the
editors are responsible. This year
they have taken as their subject
" Physics and Metaphysics in
Modern Photography ", a brief but
nevertheless fascinating survey of
the part played by photography,
allied with techniques such as
electron microscopy, X-ray crystal-
lography, etc., etc., in the revela-
tion of facts and phenomena that
lie beyond the reach of unaided
human vision.

There are four other more
specialised articles by Keith
Hornsby, Bernard Alfleri, W. S.
Sharps, and George Ashton, who
deal respectively with developer
replenishment, wild flower photo-
graphy, photography and tele-
vision, and the use of filters in
colour photography.

Abstracts from articles pub-
lished during the past year, mostly
in the British Journal of Photo-
graphy, are grouped together
under the heading Epitome of Pro-
gress. Reviews of new apparatus
and materials occupy over a
hundred pages and form a useful
buyers' guide.

The lists of sensitised materials
for colour and black-and-white
still photography and sub-standard
cinematography, with data relat-
ing to speed, availability, suitable
developers, etc., have been brought
up to date. The list of colour
materials is particularly compre-
hensive, covering as it does, all
known processes.

The section dealing with colour

photography technique contains
the latest information in the pro-
cesses available in this country,

A. E. Jeakins

with instructions for user pro-
cessing Agfacolor, Ferraniacolor
and Gevacolor reversal and Euro-
pean colour materials and colour
papers. There is also a very use-
ful list of colour balancing and
colour temperature correction
filters.

New this year is a nine-page
section which deals with " the con-
fused situation surrounding elec-
tronic flash factors and developing
times ", and includes tables for the
principal units and sensitive
materials available here.

The glossary of technical terms,
the list of books dealing with the
history, technique and applications
of photography, the directory of
repairers, the formulae are all
here, and dozens and dozens of
other items for the information
and guidance of the photographer,
far too numerous to catalogue
here.

One must, however, mention the
pictorial supplement with its
thirty-two examples of work in
various styles from photographers
all over the world excellently re-
produced in photogravure.

The British Journal Photographic
Almanac is edited by Arthur
Dalladay and published by Henry
Greenwood and Co. Ltd., London.
It sells for 6/- or 8/6 according to
whether you choose board or cloth
binding, and it's excellent value
for money, either way.

Sharps' Colour Chart

" How will that green photo-
graph? "

" Umm — a sort of darkish grey,
I imagine."

A chart recently published by
The Fountain Press ought to make

it possible to give a more precise
answer to that question.

" Sharps' Colour Chart and Grey
Scale ", to give it its correct title,
should prove a valuable aid to the
art director, cinematographer,
photographer, in fact anybody,
whether he works in films or tele-
vision, who is interested in know-
ing how colours will reproduce in
monochrome.

The chart consists of a ten-step
grey scale, a set of four cards on
which are printed a series of 32
colour patches abstracted from the
Wilson Colour Chart, and a colour
conversion table. From this table
it is possible to find out the grey
scale equivalent of any of the 32
colours on the cards, as it will re-
produce, not only in the standard
Kodak and Uford emulsions, but
also on Image Orthicon and Photo
Conductive TV camera tubes, by
daylight and tungsten.

Matching

The matching of the colours to
the grey scale was carried out by
practical tests with the emulsions
and television camera tubes. Any-
one who wishes to, can, of course,
use the grey scale to make his own
tests with colours other than those
in the chart. The publishers state
that they are prepared to arrange
for the supply to order of colours
not included in the standard set.

It is worth noting the warning
that coloured materials which con-
tain dyes that reflect light outside
the visible spectrum and to which
the TV tubes and films are sensi-
tive, may produce different results.

"Sharps' Colour Chart and Grey
Scale " is compiled by Wallace S.
Sharps and, as I mentioned above,
is published by The Fountain
Press, London. The price is 19/6.

Last month reporting on the
P.F.P. gate for the Arriflex
camera, I said that an adjustment
might have to be made to it when
using thicker film stocks like
Eastmancolor. I am informed that
this is not correct and that East-
mancolor has been used success-
fully with the prototype gate.

FILM & TV TECHNICIAN

May 1957

THE SHAPE OF
THINGS TO COME?

JOHN DAVIS SPEECH TO EXHIBITORS

A CALL for the rationalisation of the British Film Industry was made
' * by Mr. John Davis, Managing Director of the J. Arthur Rank
Organisation, at the summer conference of the Cinematograph Ex-
hibitors' Association earlier this month.

Among the questions which he reviewed were the shrinking supply
of Hollywood films, the advantages to the Industry of a European
Common Market, contraction in the number of cinemas operating, and
the need for drastic overhaul of methods of distribution. He also stressed
the need for a combined trade organisation representing all sides of
the Industry.

In view of the importance of these proposals to all workers in the
industry we print below an extended summary of Mr. Davis's speech on
which we also comment editorially on page 67.

Mr. Davis took as his text an
article in the Financial Times in
which the following statement
appeared :

" The Cinema Industry is having
to adapt itself to a situation in
which it has lost its monopoly of
mass-produced visual entertain-
ment. Recent experience has
shown that the right sort of film
can still attract capacity crowds,
but the time has gone when people
will watch indifferent perfor-
mances to pass the time. The ad-
justment to the new situation
must be painful; there may have
to be better programmes, and the
trend towards elimination of the
smaller marginal cinemas may
continue. But once the readjust-
ment is over, there is no reason
why cinemas should not take their
place as a permanent and profit-
able part of the entertainment
world."

Cold Economic Winds

How many, Mr. Davis asked, are
prepared to face the facts and re-
adjust not only methods of opera-
tion of the individual, but in addi-
tion, participate in changes which
must take place in the operation
of the industry as a whole?

At least until a year or so ago,
Mr. Davis went on, the Industry
was very prosperous. A pros-
perous industry was vulnerable
since it was often reluctant to face
up to facts. " It is the cold econo-
mic winds which ultimately force
an industry to re-adapt itself.
These conditions have been with us
for some years, but many people
have tried to avoid facing the issue
— until now when they can avoid
it no longer."

Entertainments Tax relief was
not the solution to many of the
Industry's problems. However un-
pleasant it might be, he held the
view that no final solution to these
problems would have been found if
a much larger amount of relief
had been granted this year.

Move from Hollywood

Reviewing the changing pattern
of the Industry Mr. Davis said he
believed a situation was develop-
ing as a result of which the main
source of production would move
from Hollywood. The trend of film
production in the United States
over the last year or so had shown
a material change aggravated by
financial battles for control of
some of the great corporations. An
industry in difficulties did not
easily attract new money and new
brains, both of which were needed
in great quantities.

" In my view," Mr. Davis said,
" we are going to be faced with
an American product shortage for
some considerable time, if not for
good.

Strong Home Industry

" At home a strong production
industry will be permanently de-
veloped, making films of high en-
tertainment value with an eye on
both domestic and world markets.
Entertainment supply will become
more and more on a global basis,
and if our producers grab the
opportunity British Production will
play an increasingly important
part in the world."

This would envisage a consider-

able portion of programmes being
made up of foreign language films
which had been subsequently
dubbed into English. In the past
the huge supply of American films
had made it possible to avoid the
necessity of looking for the best
of the European and South Ameri-
can product but now the smaller
Hollywood supply provided the
opportunity for foreign language
producers to extend their activities
in this country. They must do
much to help themselves and not
expect British interests to do all
their work for them.

European Common Market

" This is the opportunity for
theatre owners to exploit these
films and assist in securing for all
films an international audience, at
the same time increasing the sup-
ply of films on which the exhibitor
can draw."

Mr. Davis said that this raised
the issue of the European Common
Market which he believed would
be in the long-term interests of
this country. From the standpoint
of a film producer the European
Common Market would give the
opportunity of securing a basic
market of a size comparable with
that of the American domestic
market. This would give pro-
ducers in this country and over-
seas the opportunity of producing
films of broader appeal with an
eye to the big, basic domestic
market. In this way one of the
producer's problems, the problem
of the small domestic market,
should be removed and better films
in greater numbers should flow
from such a development.

Reciprocating Quota

" This development ", Mr. Davis
added, " will create a situation
which may horrify you, the
thought that there would have to
be a quota for films, not just
British films, but European films
covering the countries of the Euro-
pean Common Market. Let us be
under no delusion, reciprocating
quotas must be granted in the
Common Market for British films."

Mr. Davis then went on to dis-
cuss the possibilities of large-
screen television. Scientists were
already talking about world tele-
vision networks operating in the
next ten years. " We must organ-
ise ourselves ", Mr. Davis said, " so
that we participate in these new
developments. European and world
networks with large screens cer-
tainly open up new sources of
supply of entertainment and new

May 1957

FILM & TV TECHNICIAN

methods of presentation such as
an extensive use of world actuali-
ties."

Turning to the question of com-
petition from television Mr. Davis
said that, from the point of view
of the Film Industry, the public
felt that they received from tele-
vision a large quantity of free en-
tertainment. This made it un-
attractive for the public to go and
see average films when something
similar to the average film could
be obtained in the home, appar-
ently free. Thus only important
films of high entertainment value
were of interest to the public.

" Piped or Coin-in-the-Slot tele-
vision will certainly come. I am
convinced that it will be used in
the foreseeable future. Will the
industry use it? Surely the in-
dustry must and can harness it for
its own benefit? ".

Competition for Leisure

People today had more leisure
time and the more leisure they
had the greater was the competi-
tion for it by all providers of
entertainment, be it television,
radio, the ballet, music, sport,
motor-cars or films, and one of the
greatest competitors for that
leisure time was the motor-car.

With this increased leisure the
public would become more selec-
tive in its tastes and audiences
would no longer be prepared to go
to the cinema unless they were
offered not only good entertain-
ment but adequate facilities and
comfort under which to see the
programme.

In Mr. Davis's view the facilities
in many cinemas were not ade-
quate today. " Theatres not in
first-class condition must be closed
or alternatively rebuilt to the
latest and most modern standards
of comfort and projection, etc."

Rationalisation

" But in my view ", Mr. Davis
added, " nothing can stop a
material contraction in the number
of cinemas operating in the Wes-
tern world. The present limited
supply of pictures and the chang-
ing competitive conditions in the
mass entertainment market will
bring about the closing of many
theatres; only those with good
earning potential will be retained."

While a most careful rationali-
sation in theatres was essential it
was also necessary to overhaul the
present methods of distribution
which were obsolete and unneces-
sarily complicated. The Industry

must materially reduce the cost of
distribution which was far too
high, not only in this country but
world-wide. This must involve a
common servicing organisation
separate from any one company
and divorced from selling, to
handle the physical side of distri-
bution.

Scrambled TV Network

Looking further ahead Mr. Davis
believed the time would come when
films would be distributed either
through the medium of tape, wire
or through a television scrambled
network.

No side of the industry could
exist successfully without the suc-
cess of all sides. It was essential
to work out methods of increasing
box-office returns. Producers must
have the opportunity of earning
maximum returns on important
entertainment films. They, on
their side, must use imagination to
keep costs down and to make films
which would satisfy the changing
tastes of the public.

" I have already intimated that,
in my view, a contraction in the
quantity of film must continue.
The unanswered problem is the
speed of this contraction. In addi-
tion there is already a permanent
reduction in the supply of second
features and other supporting film.
Ultimately the programme will be
reduced to single features which
may lead to a change in present
public tastes for the continuous
programme."

One Trade Organisation

At the present time the Industry
had over sixty trade associations
with an annual operating cost in
excess of £250,000. It should set
up a combined trade organisation
at the top of which there should
be an executive council presided
over by an independent chairman
having no connection with any
side of the Industry. Under this
executive there should be com-
mittees representing each section
of the industry. Such an organisa-
tion would facilitate the sorting
out of the problem for the creation
of the successful pattern of the
future.

" We must have rationalisation
in our industry. The closure of
the uneconomic unit will come,
taking into account whether the
unit is uneconomic because it is
redundant or whether it is un-
economic because it is in poor con-
dition."

FRENCH

TECHNICIANS'

A.G.M.

YV7E have received from the Syn-
" dicat des Techniciens de la
Production Cinematographique,
the French film technicians' Union,
a copy of resolutions passed at
their Annual General Meeting held
on March 10th, 1957.

A series of demands were made
concerning the Social Service
scheme. These included the
adaptation of the scheme to the
casual nature of film technicians'
employment, a revision of the
points-calculation for pensions,
and an improvement in health and
safety precautions in studios. The
resolution stated that health
standards in the industry had de-
teriorated alarmingly, partly as a
result of the speed-up of produc-
tion over recent years, and ended
by demanding the resumption of
discussions on the re-establish-
ment of the 5-day working week.

Separate Union

French television technicians are
organised in a separate union, the
Syndicat des Techniciens du Spec-
tacle Televise, but this, like the
S.T.P.C., is affiliated to the
National Entertainment-workers'
Federation, and the two unions
work together on matters of com-
mon policy. The last resolution of
the S.T.P.C. meeting gave strong
support both to their own Direc-
tors' Section and to S.T.S.T. in
their defence of the moral rights
of creative workers in the products
of their labour and especially in
opposing the "Producers' Charter"
drawn up by the International
Federation of Film Producers'
Associations.

Management Criticised

The resolution further criticised
the attitude of the management of
French Radio Television to Trades
Union agreements and protested
against attempts by the same
management to exclude film tech-
nicians from television production.
On this latter subject, it instructed
the Executive of S.T.P.C, in col-
laboration with S.T.S.T., to take
all necessary action, including a
publicity campaign, to further the
possibilities for fruitful collabora-
tion in the television field between
technicians of the two unions.

MAX ANDERSON.

FILM & TV TECHNICIAN

May 1957

Win Min Than had never seen tele-
vision until she came to England to
co-star with Gregory Peck in 'The
Purple Plain'.

"We do not have
television in Burma "
she says, "hut then
we are a naturally
happy people!"

We have invited QUENTIN LAWRENCE, of A.C.T.T.'s Television Producer-Directors' Section, to <•( ntribute
occasional articles on various technical aspects of television production. He opens in this issue with a subject

of never-ending- controversy.

Film or 'Live 9 ?

SINCE this journal is read by film
and television technicians alike,
perhaps it would not be inappro-
priate to devote a few lines to a
topic on which controversy rages
unceasingly, and on which I sup-
pose the last word will never be
said; I refer to the general ques-
tion of "live" versus "film" studio
production technique.

Perhaps the word " versus " is
out of place; the two techniques
are not of course competitive. If
one has to make a film, one makes
it in a film studio; if one has to
do a live production, one does it
live. However, the end-product is
the same — a story told in pictures
on a screen with accompanying
sound — and sidelong glances, some-
times envious, sometimes derisive,
are often being cast from one
camp to the other. And whichever
one is engaged in one cannot — or
at any rate should not- banish
from one's mind the question of
how the other medium would tackle
the same problem.

It has been my good fortune to
divide my time pretty well equally

in the last twelve months between
active direction in both media, and
immediately prior to that I re-
ceived my grounding as a director
in the much-discussed High-Defini-
tion venture, a true hybrid if ever
there was one. Any conclusions
which I may by now have come to
are therefore based on fairly com-
prehensive practical experience. In
point of fact they are few, but in-
teresting to me because they are
so diametrically opposed to what
I expected at the outset.

By the same rules

The raison d'etre of the High-
Definition project was the applica-
bility of Television production
methods to film making. I now
find myself implacably dedicated
to the exact complementary idea,
which is the applicability of the
basics of film production to live
Television. It never ceases to
astonish me that this approach is
not more widely canvassed in the
grounding of training of Television
directors. To have once mastered

the technique of directing a film is
to be provided with the means of
solving, by the same rules as one
learned in the film studio, nearly
every problem that presents itself
in the planning of a Television
production.

Ninety per cent of the television
director's technical problems (ex-
cept, of course, those concerned
with writing and acting, which
must come first) are concerned
with where to place the camera,
with what lens, and; when and
how to cut from one shot to the
next. Now if one is capable of
participating in these decisions on
the studio floor and in the cutting-
room, one can just as easily — very
often more easily — make them
under TV production conditions.

Many film technicians get very
bewildered and baffled by con-
ditions in a TV production control
room, which often seems to re-
semble the bridge of a destroyer
under fire during a naval battle.
The important thing to remember
about this is, that once a director
climbs into the " gallery" his work

May 1957

FILM & TV TECHNICIAN

is, or should be, finished. He is
merely watching his picture being
acted, photographed, edited and
dubbed — all at once! He has only
one screen to watch; the others
are there for the various techni-
cians who need them, and if he
has done his work properly he
should be able to watch it in
reasonable quiet and comfort be-
cause everyone else has been told
— by him — what to do and when to
do it.

Chaos on Screen

The director who does not pre-
plan, who tries to knit together
the production from the control
gallery by watching four screens
at once, manipulating three
cameras " off the cuff ", and often
even giving impromptu directions
to the wretched actors over a
loudspeaker, gets chaos in the con-
trol room — and on the screen. This
latter feature he never really
knows about because he is too
busy.

There is a terrible lot of non-
sense talked about the special nature
of Television. There is absolutely
no fundamental difference between
a live Television production and a
film of the equivalent story. I
hold the view that the only way to
plan a live Television sequence is
to imagine how one would shoot
it on film and then see how closely
one can approximate to the same
result using multiple cameras and
continuous shooting. And it would
amaze many people to know how
often one can get very near to the
same answer. There are certain
impossibilities in live Television —
for instance, when cross-cutting
on dialogue one can never get
round as near to the mutual eye-
line as one would wish, but at least
if one understands the problem one
can work out methods of coming
pretty close to the ideal.

Same " handwriting "

If one has worked for any length
of time in a film studio one in-
evitably gets to know what sort
of set-ups are easy to light well
and yield good photographic re-
sults. It is quite astonishing to
find that if one uses this same
" handwriting " in a Television
studio, one finds in nine cases out
of ten that one is getting Tele-
vision pictures of truly cinematic
quality. Television lighting men
are not idiots. Though many
people think they are and can be
pardoned for thinking so because
they so often have to light vir-
tually " unlightable " set-ups,

wished on them by a director who
doesn't realise what can be lit and
what cannot.

What of the reverse of the
coin ? What can the film techni-
cian derive from Television tech-
nique? There is no doubt that the
one big advantage, the thing that
makes Television possible (and
also makes it tremendous fun) is
the purely psychological factor of
going " on the air " at a set time
with the knowledge that several
million people are looking in;
which gives the whole operation,
from the first planning conference
or rehearsal, a sort of tempo which
has no equivalent in film produc-

DYNAMITE?

The views expressed in this
article may be technical dyna-
mite among Television Pro-
ducers. We hope they are.
If they create an explosion of
contending opinions Film and
TV Technician wants to report
it. What are YOUR views?
Write and tell us. We are
waiting for the " big bang " !

tion and cannot be synthesised by
any means.

There may be odd technical de-
vices and tricks which could find
a place in film production; for in-
stance, do film sound editors and
dubbing mixers know about the
German E.M.T. gramophone turn-
tables which A.T.V. are now using
for cued background music and
effects? These are capable of
running - up virtually instan-
taneously on a selected musical
phrase or sound effect and can be
very simply operated to an accur-
acy of time equal to all but the
most precise track-laying. Their
use in the dubbing theatre could
save time in the cutting room, as
well as eliminating an inter-
mediate transfer from disc to film.

Future Articles

I hope that in future articles
other devices peculiar to Tele-
vision but with possible film pro-
duction applications will be
described. It would be of great
help in the planning of these
articles if readers would write to
me, c/o Head Office, about the sort
of subjects which they feel should
be covered in this feature.

Quentin Lawrence

George Elvin
Back

Members will be glad to know
that George Elvin is back in the
saddle having made a complete
recovery. In fact he seems to be
at the very top of his form and
fighting fit.

" From what I see after my first
few hours in the office ", George
said on the day of his return to
work, " the film industry and its
trade unions are much the same as
before. But whether they are or
not, I want to let you know that
I am passed as completely fit and
I am delighted to be around again.
I am most grateful to everybody
within A.C.T.T., from Head Office
through the Shop Stewards to the
rank and file for showing so effec-
tively during the past seven
months that it is all nonsense to
claim that A.C.T.T. was anything
like a ' one man show '.

A.C.T.T. " healthier than ever "

'A.C.T.T. seems, if anything,
healthier than ever. I look forward
to meeting the members again
over the coming months."

Following George's return Bert
Craik, who so magnificently held
the fort during the General Secre-
tary's absence, is taking a well-
deserved holiday. All members
will wish him an enjoyable rest
and will thank him for the sterling
work he did in George's absence.

TV AT EDINBURGH
FESTIVAL

The growth of television is to be
reflected in the programme for
this year's Edinburgh Film Fes-
tival which is being held from
August 18th to September 8th.
Plans include an international con-
ference on the production and use
of documentary film in television.
There will also be discussions of
plans for the international ex-
change of television film material.

M. Henry Cassirer, head of the
Television Branch of U.N.E.S.C.O.,
is drafting a programme for the
conference which will attract film
and TV experts from many
countries.

A Festival conference on the use
of television in education is being
planned by the Scottish Educa-
tional Film Conference Committee.

FILM & TV TECHNICIAN

May 1957

TALKING POINTS

A - Bomb • Third Programme • Entertainment Tax

/^OMING events, they say, cast
^ J their shadows before them, and
with a jolt I realised the deep
truth of this corny old saying,
when I was privileged to go to a
special showing of a most moving
new documentary film that has
just been re-edited over here. The
picture comes from far-away
Japan, but there is nothing
quaintly oriental about it, for it
shows in ordinary human terms,
understandable to any nationality,
exactly what are the effects today
of the atomic bomb that fell on
Hiroshima and Nagasaki nearly
twelve years ago.

No Bitterness

The makers of this film do not
dwell on the past, and, believe-it-
or-not, they show no bitterness
against those who dropped those
terrible bombs. The effects of
radiation from these bombs and
from the Bikini H-bomb test of
1955 are still today killing people
in Japan, but this shadow on the
bright face of the inhabitants is
shown by the film to be a warning
against the hydrogen bomb tests
that the great nations are still con-
tinuing. The film's title is The
Shadow of Hiroshima.

A.C.T.T. put down a resolution
on the subject of H-bombs and the
genetic effects of the tests for the
Women's T.U.C. at Hastings, and
when our delegate Mrs. E. J.
Wallis told the conference that
the Women's Advisory Committee
had ruled it out of order, there
were some angry clashes with the
platform. In a way the Advisory
Committee was right in saying
that the conference could only deal
with women's problems — the H-
bomb tests concern men, women
and, most particularly, children —
but their " Out of Order " decree
seems most bureaucratic.

If The Shadow of Hiroshima had
been shown to them first, I am
sure they would have realised the
importance of everyone freely dis-
cussing the problem, for this 22-
minute film is of enormous assis-
tance in graphically bringing home
the truth of the hazards to the
world of nuclear tests.

I wish those abusive people who

think it clever to call intellectuals
names would make up their minds.
One moment intellectuals are re-
ferred to as " the long-haired
boys ", and then their critics go to
the other extreme and call them
"egg-heads"! This silly talk is
really nothing more than envy, and

Cadmus"

its inverted snobbery always
strikes me as especially vulgar
when relatively intelligent people
are dismissed as " Third Pro-
gramme types ".

Perhaps it is part of the British
habit of running down the things
that foreigners admire most about
us. I have often noticed how
friends from America have gone
into rhapsodies over our BBC
Third Programme, now so sadly
curbed by Sir Ian Jacob on
grounds of economy. ("It might
mean small reductions in staff ",
added Sir Ian). Despite some irri-
tatingly pretentious material on
occasions, the Third has pioneered
remarkably enlightened pro-
grammes, as well as catering for
the ever-growing public that
enjoys serious concerts and operas,
and does not want them packaged
in half-hour periods.

Deserved Wider Audience

Many of the experiments on the
Third that have deserved a wider
audience have been " promoted "
to the Home or Light for repeats,
which is, surely, a high tribute.
Those who were so vociferous in
demanding commercial TV as an
alterative programme to BBC
television have been strangely
silent during the controversy over
the Third; but, really, the same
principle of giving the public as
much choice of listening as pos-
sible applies; restricting the Third
to the awkward hours of 8 to
11 p.m. prevents so many people
enjoying it when they want to, for

the question of choice is the im-
portant one.

For a great and progressive
people with ambitions to go for-
ward it is not enough that the
Third programme should only be
allotted three hours a day, while
the Light and Home together get
ten times as much.

I have left to the last the aspect
that affects us most directly as a
Trade Union. If economies are
the order of the day, not only are
regular employees of the BBC
threatened, but also those long-
suffering free-lance members like
writers, who scrape a living in the
media of radio, television and film,
will find it even more difficult. I'm
all for changes at the BBC, but
this one is retrogressive and ought
itself to be changed.

Predictions Correct

The only thing that pleased me
about the Budget was that the
predictions I made in February
proved correct. I wrote then that
the Government would not be very
generous to the cinemas and sug-
gested that " cinema Entertain-
ment Tax may be slightly reduced,
but, to make up for this, there will
be some form of tax on television."
Last month the Chancellor of the
Exchequer cut cinema duties by
£6,500,000 (the industry asked for
a £21,000.000 cut), and increased
the combined radio and TV
licences from £3 to £4, which
would net an extra £8,000,000 in a
full year.

The total abolition of Entertain-
ment Tax on the live theatre and
sport only serves to emphasise the
iniquity of the remaining Tax on
cinema tickets. The Federation of
Theatre Unions can feel pleased
with their campaigning over the
Tax on the live theatre, and their
success should spur us on to com-
bine with the other film Unions
now in preparing for the next
Budget.

SHOW THAT YOU BELONG

A.C.T.T. badges and brooches can
be obtained from Head Office.
Badges 2/-, brooches 2/4, post free.

May 1957

FILM & TV TECHNICIAN

"Kemp's"— 1957

Book Reviews

KEMP'S FILM AND TV DIREC-
TORY, 1957 (10/6 — Free to British
production companies and Studio
Managers).

This directory includes for the
first time a Technicians' Section
for which A.C.T.T. and N.A.T.K.E.
co-operated with the publishers.
Whether you want to find a com-
poser for a TV jingle, buy some
cutting-room equipment or hire a
police car, you can find names,
addresses and 'phone numbers
listed in the appropriate cate-
gories, which are conveniently in-
dexed at the end.

In New Form

This is the first issue in a new
form, and I do not mean to be dis-
couraging to the publishers in
pointing out a few things that
seem to be rather strange. If you
wanted to look up the address of
A.C.T. Films Ltd., you would look
in vain under " Producing Com-
panies — Feature Films ", and yet
it appears in a number of such
categories as the producers of TV
commercials, cartoons and enter-
tainment shorts. Among the trade
and professional associations one
cannot find the E.T.U., the Musi-
cians' Union, the Children's Film
Foundation, nor the Newsreel
Association to mention a few. How
has a German documentary pro-
duction company with a Berlin
address crept in among the scores
of animated and cartoon produc-
tion companies?

Our Union's name is printed in
two different ways — both of them
wrong. Such errors will, no doubt,
be corrected next year, but I would
suggest to the Editor that he in-
cludes a few blank pages, where
omissions and changes of address
can be filled in by the owners of
the Directory.

Co-operation Welcome

Increased members' co-operation
in future no doubt will be wel-
comed by the publishers, whose
address is 299-301 Gray's Inn
Road, W.C.I.

I have been severe in criticism —
but only in the spirit of being
helpful towards a most valuable
book, whose printing is beautifully
clear and which is attractively
bound in a glossy stiff card cover.

C.B.

Push-Bike across India

The Ride to Chandigarh, by Harold
Elvin. Macmillan, 25/-.

" When India in the partition of
'47 lost half the Punjab to
Pakistan, the Indian Punjab lost
its capital, Lahore. So now they
are building a new capital, and
they are doing it on virgin land,
and its nearest village is Chandi-
garh and hence its name. I just
want to see it."

That was how Harold Elvin ex-
plained to his host, an Indian
Salvation Army Major, why he
was starting out on a cycle ride
of over two thousand miles across
India to the foot of the Himalayas.

" And this city, is it a worth
seeing place ", the Indian asked.

" It will be. It's only just be-
ginning. They sent for four of
the most famous architects in the
world to design it; the Frenchmen
Le Corbusier and Jeanneret, and
the English Maxwell Fry and his
wife Jane Drew ".

Threefold Equipment

" The Ride to Chandigarh " to
see " the vast areas of nothing
that will soon be something," is
certainly a most " well worth
reading book ". Harold Elvin had
the advantage of a three-fold
equipment for his task. In the
first place he is a long-distance
pedal cyclist on a truly epic scale.
His pilgrimages on two wheels had
already taken him to Constan-
tinople and back and to Leningrad
and back. He had cycled in the
cold of Lapland as well as in ex-
tremes of heat.

In the second place he travels
with an appreciative eye and an
appreciative mind. His ride across
India was to see the beginnings of
a great architectural experiment,
and he himself has had an archi-
tect's training and worked in
architects' offices. On top of that
five years working in Elstree Film
Studios, in the Art Department
and as Floor Manager, have given
him an artist's appreciation of
people as well as places.

Poona

Anyone who has ever worked on
a film with an eastern setting will
appreciate this description of
Poona: " Sometimes in Hollywood
they make a street scene of the
East and they go round scraping
up everything from every studio

lot, from buggy-carts to buffaloes,
from lechers to lepers, from rick-
shaws even to trains, and sling
them all in as if tightly stoppered
up into twenty short yards so that
the hero can't get down the street

Peasant Face

[Still by Frank Horvat

without being lost to the camera
ten times: and all this to give an
impression of the East. But here
it all is! But ten times more
packed and extending for miles,
not for yards."

And then a note of burning in-
dignation creeps into the descrip-
tion, for in Poona Elvin found not
only seething life and colour but
also " stench and poverty to set
the whole world to shame that
while this exists they dare to talk
of money for armaments."

This is a book which will be
enjoyed by anyone who wants to
know about the places and the
people of India that lie off the
beaten track as well as such
famous monuments as the Taj

Mahal.

M.C.

WORKERS ABROAD, Vol. Ill
(published by the United
Nations Educational, Scientific
and Cultural Organisation,
Paris, 1957, in English).

For some of our members, who
go on foreign locations, the thrill
(Continued on page 76)

FILM & TV TECHNICIAN

May 1957

Book Reviews

(continued)

of travelling and working abroad
may have lost its excitement and
novelty. When Greek workers
helped build the temple of Baalbek
and French masons, working for
the master-builder William de
Sens, built Canterbury Cathedral,
they may not have realised how
their labours would be admired
for centuries, though they must
have been filled with a wonderful
spirit of adventure. Maybe these
" co-productions " of bygone days
will be less fleeting than the works
of the modern travelling film tech-
nician.

Exchange Schemes

This booklet, which the T.U.C.
sends us with its commendation, is
intended to give information about
schemes for the exchange of young
trainees between the nations of the
world; in some cases the worker
wants to spend a period abroad to
improve his technical skills, and in
others he may want to get to know
the people of another country by
working and living among them.
Workers Abroad shows that this is
also of advantage to the respective
employers of the travelling
journeymen of today.

Just as one is beginning to
dream of exciting and educational
adventures, one is brought back to
reality by the statement:

" In trades where considerable
unemployment has been known,
and where the union has built up
some form of trade security for
its members , hesitancy to accept
a worker from abroad is per-
fectly understandable ."

That, unfortunately, is just
where, despite the good efforts of
UNESCO, the scheme cannot
really apply to us to any great
extent, and this is an additional
crime one must lay at the door
of those responsible for the unem-
ployment and casual work in the
entertainment industry, because,
while unemployment lasts, there is
bound to be suspicion that foreign
workers might take our jobs.

Fortunately, there have been a
few such international exchanges
of film technicians (though not on
a reciprocal basis), and in addition
to the advantages of trainee ex-
changes, which this booklet gives,
I would stress another: for
workers to get to know their
fellow Trade Unionists in other
countries will greatly help to build
lasting world peace.

C.B.

PREMIERE

of
ST. JOAN

The British premiere of Otto
Preminger's production of Bernard
Shaw's St. Joan is on Thursday,
June 20th, at the Leicester Square
Theatre.

Starring in the film are Richard
Widmark, Richard Todd, Anton
Walbrook and Jean Seberg.

As we announced in our March
issue, Mr. Preminger has gener-
ously agreed that the proceeds of
the premiere shall go to the
British Film Studio Workers'
Benevolent Funds.

Tickets, price £5 5s. 0d.,
£3 3s. 0d., £2 2s. 0d., £1 Is. Od. and
10s. 6d., may be obtained from:
Mrs. Madge Clarke, 59 Stanhope
Gardens, Kensington, London,
S.W.7 ('phone FREmantle 2285/6).

A. C. T. T.
HELPED HIM

In November 1955 Mr. Frederick
Slater, one of our members em-
ployed at Technicolor, was
knocked down by a motor car
on a " zebra " crossing while re-
turning from work and seriously
injured.

A.C.T.T., through their solici-
tors, took up Mr. Slater's case
with the motorist's insurance com-
pany and have been able to obtain
£525 compensation for Mr. Slater,
plus all costs.

Mr. Slater writes: "May I sin-
cerely thank you for the great help
accorded me in trying to get a
satisfactory settlement. ... It has
been a great relief and I am deeply
obliged for all the assistance I
have received."

CAMERA HIRE

1957 Arriflex Model Ha

complete with Blimp

and Power-Pack

25 mm.
32 mm.
40 mm.
50 mm.
75 mm.

COOKE

SERIES II

LENSES

18mm. Cooke Retrofocus also available

LEEVERS-RICH
'SYNCHROPULSE' RECORDER

S. W. SAMUELSON

FINchley I 595

HERE & THERE

" Rock Round the Clock, which
cost only $300,000, is reckoned to
recover eight times over its cost."
— Variety.

Change of Theme

President of Takimura Produc-
tions reports that in an " effort to
increase the popularity of Japanese
films in the States, they intend to
use contemporary themes, as
opposed to the ancient themes that
have been great successes." — Far
East Film News.

Who cares as long as it sells ?

" It may be a soul-searing drama
of violent passion or a highly-
polished bedroom comedy, with
lots of lingerie; but whatever it is
the customers will lap it up. For
the British cinemagoer — bless him
— is incurably convinced that the
lives of Europeans are infinitely
more inhibited than his own, so
that he accepts quite easily the
most extraordinary behaviour on
the part of characters in films.
And who are we to say him nay? "
— Michel Williams, " Continentals,
Answer to Product Squeeze ".

Asian Co-produotions Increasing

According to Dr. Hoffmeister,
a member of the Czechoslovakian
cultural delegation to India, India
and Czechoslovakia will produce
jointly a puppet film. He said
that India was an ideal place for
producing puppet films by virtue
of its rich folklore.

Also to be co-produced is an
Indian-Chinese film Under the
Blue Sky; this is to be shot in
China and Burma and directed by
a team of Bengali directors.

Lewis McLeod.

MR. AND MRS. HAWKES

Miss Norma Bremson, daughter
of Mr. and Mrs. Syd Bremson, was
recently married to Stan Hawkes,
a fellow stalwart of the Editorial
Section. We regret that in our
last month's issue we gave the
name of Miss Bremson's husband
wrongly as Stan Hughes. Our
apologies and wishes for every
happiness to Mr. and Mrs. Hawkes.

May 1957

FILM & TV TECHNICIAN

LAB TOPICS

Bill Sharp Retires

Bill Sharp, known to many of
the older school of laboratory
technicians, has been retired by
A.B. Pathe, having worked for the
company and its predecessors con-
tinuously since 1912.

Frank Fuller writes:

Of late his health has not been
too good, bronchial troubles cur-
tailing his activities considerably
and forcing him to have frequent
spells away from work.

Looking back to 1912, Bill re-
calls that he first started as hypo
boy to Jock Gemmell who was
then the developer. Jock needs no
introduction from me having been
established as a newsreel camera-
man as long as I have known him.

Both Bill and Jock agree they
were paid in gold in those days.
Bill, taking home a golden
sovereign at the end of the week —
15/- wages plus overtime — still
earned more than his father, who
had a large family to support.

World War I saw Bill in the
Army, serving in France with the
23rd London Regiment. Demobbed
in 1919, he returned to Pathe in
time to work on the newsreel
covering the victory parade of
that year.

Management Sympathetic

For many years he was senior
developer at Pathe and for the
last six years was put in charge of
the positive examination depart-
ment, a move made in the hope of
benefiting his health. One must
congratulate the management for
the generous and sympathetic con-
sideration given to a loyal and effi-
cient worker in making it finan-
cially possible for Bill to enjoy a
somewhat premature retirement.

A collection made among the
people at Elstree and Wardour
Street Labs, Pathe News and Pic-
torial resulted in a presentation of
a barometer and a sum in cash
being made by Manager C. J.
Phillips at a going-away party in
his office on Friday, April 12th.
Those present included Mr. W. A.
Fielder (General Manager),

Messrs. A. Turner, J. Gemmell,
A. Simon, E. Potter, R. H. Bom-
back, W. Robinson, J. May,
A. Lawrence, J. Rees and F. Cull.

Those members who can cast
their minds back to 1935 will re-

Bill Sharp receives A.C.T.T. Darts League Shield
as Pathe Captain

member Bill as one of the active
members in organising the forma-
tion of the Laboratory Branch of
the Union. He was an untiring
worker on behalf of A.C.T.T. and
was in fact the first Shop Steward
of the Wardour Street Laboratory,
a job he held with distinction for
some three or four years.

He was a good mixer, liked
social activities and " skippered "
the successful Pathe darts team of
a few years ago.

Through the years he has been
a source of strength to A.C.T.T.
and has always been ready to give
advice and the benefit of his ex-
perience to the local Committees
if required.

Alf Cooper writes:

Following the close-down of
Radiant Colour Labs, it is with
pleasure that I can report that all
redundant personnel are now re-
employed within the industry.

Many of our members are still
worried about the dermatitis prob-
lem in the Laboratories and a sub-
committee was formed at the last
Laboratories Shop Stewards Com-
mittee to produce a full report on
this item for the next meeting to
be held in May.

FOR SALE.— Vinten Light-Gyro
Tripod with tall and short legs,
top-hat, fitted case. £90. Box 204,
F.T.V., 5-6 Red Lion Square Lon-
don, W.C.I.

FOR SALE. — Newman Model G
Camera in excellent condition. All
Cooke Lenses, SINGLE FRAME
EXPOSURE device, etc., etc. £400.
Box 205, F.T.V., 5-6 Red Lion
Square, London, W.C.I.

WANTE D.— Friction Tripod

(Medium Duty size) suitable for
wild Newall and Vinten Model H
Cameras. Box 206, F.T.V., 5-6 Red
Lion Square, London, W.C.I.

FILM & TV TECHNICIAN

May 1957

General Council in Session

"THE DREYFUS CASE"

FOREIGN TECHNICIANS. Be-
cause of the unsatisfactory out-
come of negotiations with M.-G.-M.
over the employment of two
foreign technicians on The Dreyfus
Case, and because the company
could give no undertaking to em-
ploy a British Producer or Director
on future productions, the Execu-
tive Committee had agreed to re-
commend to the General Council
that action be taken to enforce
our policy that both the Producer
and Director shall be British on all
quota films made by companies not
covered by the B.F.P.A. Quota of
Foreign Technicians, until these
companies jointly met us to nego-
tiate some form of quota agree-
ment. To enforce this policy the
Council unanimously agreed to ad-
vise the Ministry of Labour and
the main American companies
immediately that A.C.T.T. was
issuing instructions to members in
Studios and Laboratories not to
work on a Quota film for any such
company which goes on the floor
after August 1st, 1957, unless all
the technicians are British and
members of A.C.T.T. or the pro-
duction has received clearance
from A.C.T.T.

A number of members contri-
buted helpful suggestions to
further the campaign, and it was
agreed that a leaflet and a Press
Statement be prepared on the
matter of foreign technicians, lead-
ing up to a further deputation to
the Ministry of Labour.

H-BOMB TESTS. The United
Nations Association, to which the
A.C.T.T. is affiliated, had written,
asking for support in calling on
the Government to :

1. Suspend the present series of
tests, and

2. Put forward to the Disarma-
ment Sub-Committee pro-
posals for the cessation of all
tests.

The Council agreed to send out a
circular to all Shop Stewards,
urging Shops and individual mem-
bers to make their opposition to
the H-bomb tests felt.

T.U.C. MEMORIAL BUILDING-
LOANS. The Acting General
Secretary reported that, owing to
the continual rise in costs over the
outstanding estimates of capital
expenditure in connection with the
T.U.C. Memorial Building, a sum
of roughly £72,000 remains to be
raised. The T.U.C. have decided,
therefore, to invite all Unions to
make loans in units of £1,000 re-
payable with interest at three per
cent per annum within a period of
five years as approved by Con-
gress. At present the T.U.C. have
in mind, among other things, that
any union in financial difficulty
should be able, if they so desire,
to obtain at least part repayment
of the loan at any time during the
five years. The F. & G.P. recom-
mended that we be prepared to
make a loan of £1,000. The Execu-
tive agreed to this recommenda-
tion.

OFFICIAL APPOINTMENTS

FILM EDITOR (known locally as Film Production Officer) required by
the Federal Government of Nigeria for the Film Production Unit of the
Information Service on contract for 18/24 months in the first instance.
Salary according to experience in scale (including inducement addition)
£1,170 rising to £1,488 a year. Gratuity at rate £150 a year. Outfit
Allowance £60. Liberal leave on full salary. Free passages for officer
and wife. Grant up to £150 annually for maintenance of children in U.K.
Free passages for children up to cost of two adult return fares. (It is
thus often possible for an officer whose children are being educated in
the U.K. to arrange for them to spend two or more school vacations in
West Africa with free passages). Candidates must be experienced in
editing to final stage both 16mm. and 35mm. documentary and educa-
tional films and must have the ability to lay dialogue, commentary, music,
and effects tracks. A knowledge of film processing would be an advan-
tage. Write to the Crown Agents, 4 Millbank, London, S.W.I. State
age, name in block letters, full qualifications and experience, and quote
M3B/35002/CY.

USE OF LIGHTING EQUIPMENT
BY MEMBERS OF A.C.T.T. A

complaint was received from the
E.T.U. against a member of
A.C.T.T., who it was alleged in-
tended using his own lighting
equipment on a job without the
services of a production electrician.
It was necessary to call a joint
meeting with the E.T.U. and the
member concerned present. The
meeting was a friendly one and the
matter was sorted out satisfac-
torily. The E.T.U. representative,
however, said that where members
of A.C.T.T. themselves own light-
ing equipment and engage elec-
tricians they should do so through
the E.T.U. office and not from any
other source.

LEAGUE FOR DEMOCRACY IN
GREECE asked for the support
of A.C.T.T. in demanding the re-
lease of Trade Union leaders im-
prisoned in Greece. The Executive
agreed that a cable be sent as sug-
gested by the League.

B.B.C./E.T.U. A dispute had
arisen between the B.B.C. and the
E.T.U on the operation of the Con-
sole at Riverside Studios, and the
BB.C. had demanded that in-
dividual Trade Unionists should
contract out of a freely negotiated
industrial agreement and abrogate
their rights and duties as members
of the Union. A.C.T.T., Equity
and the Musicians' Union had been
invited to meet the E.T.U. to dis-
cuss this and they had jointly
asked the B.B.C. to withdraw the
ultimatum and to reach a speedy
settlement with the E.T.U. to pre-
vent an extension of the dispute
which might affect members of
other Unions. The E.T.U. had now
asked A.C.T.T. to issue a state-
ment that the operation of the
Console is the job of an E.T.U.
member.

It was decided to issue a state-
ment that A.C.T.T. had never laid
claim with the B.B.C. to the
mechanical operation of electrical
lighting equipment, including the
lighting console, and a letter of
explanation should be sent to our
members in the B.B.C. who were
Lighting Engineers.

A. B.C. TELEVISION. Paddy Leech
spent a day in the Manchester
Studios of this company, and it is
hoped to develop our membership
here. The Company is using an
exceptionally large number of
trainees, who are responsible for
putting out programmes. The

May 1957

FILM & TV TECHNICIAN

Organiser took up in London the
question of the hours worked by
Production Assistants. At a
second meeting, the company
accepted that excessive hours had
been worked and gave an assur-
ance that an instruction had been
given that all Production Assis-
tants must work a five-day,
44-hour week. Negotiations are
still in progress to raise the
salaries of several lower-paid Pro-
duction Assistants.

GRANADA TELEVISION. Paddy
Leech attended a Committee meet-
ing at this Manchester shop, where
we have an excellent organisation.
Recent negotiations at shop level,
without prejudice to the National
Agreement, have resulted in in-
creases of from £50 to as much as
£250 a year for numerous grades.
Our Steward, Gavin Waddell, was
successful in stopping a process by
which A. B.C. Television, under-
crewed, made up its complement
of staff by using Granada per-
sonnel (A. B.C. Television are week-
end, Granada weekday contrac-
tors). This has been placed on a
proper consultative level, with
" emergency " as the criterion of
such hiring.

A.R.T.V. Brother Shine, our
A.R.T.V. Shop Steward, with the
Organiser present, has had a series
of meetings with the Management
in recent months. These have led
to increased staff being taken on
from those declared redundant as

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an interim measure with a further
review to take place shortly. Im-
portant modifications have been
made in a Management qualifica-
tion pay scheme for certain grades.
Increases in pay for telecine opera-
tors, with ex-gratia payments in
lieu of back pay have been won.

A.T.V. We are making organisa-
tional progress here despite some
apparent hostility from heads of
departments and membership is
slowly being built up. A very
successful meeting was held at the
Foley Street Studio and a con-
siderable increase in membership
can reasonably be expected. The
Organiser is taking up with the
Management a clause in some
contracts restricting membership
to the Association of Broadcasting
Staffs.

TV DRAFT AGREEMENT. Copies
of the TV Draft Agreement have
now been sent to the Programme
Contractors with a letter from the
Acting General Secretary seeking
an early meeting. As only an
acknowledgment had been received
from the Contractors the General
Council unanimously agreed to
press for a meeting.

RANK SCREEN SERVICES—
PINEWOOD. Notification had been
received from this Company that
fifteen of our members would not
be with the firm after May 3rd.
Thirteen were at Pinewood, and
two at Hill Street. Fred Tonge
visited the Studios to meet the
members who were available and
phoned Hill Street.

The Studio Manager stated that
he hoped the majority would be
found jobs in some other part of
the Rank Organisation but could
give no definite promise on this.
Members would be paid to May 3rd
but were free to depart earlier.
Holiday credits would be paid
after May 3rd. Fred Tonge re-
ported to the Council that all ex-
cept five members had now found
other work.

LABORATORIES AGREEMENT.

The Laboratories Committee had
pressed for up-to-date printed
copies of the Agreement to be
made available, and it was agreed
that Bert Craik, the Acting
General Secretary, should get in
touch with the Film Laboratory
Association and get the Agree-
ment printed as a matter of
urgency.

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FILM & TV TECHNICIAN

The Bespoke Overcoat "

a REMUS production

Winner of the 1956 Oscar for the best short in the world

,4- \ , -K

May 1957

a dream of a film . . . brought to life on

ILFORD^

W®

Awarded First Prize as
the host short story film at the

1955 Venice Festival

and First Prize as the best short in the

British Film Academy Awards 1955

35mm cine negative films

Romulus presents THE BESPOKE OVERCOAT, a Remus
production starring DAVID KOSSOFF and ALFIE BASS.
Producer Director : JACK CLAYTON. Screenplay : WOLF
MANKOWITZ. Photography: W. Suschitzy. Distribution con-
trolled by Independent Film Distributors Ltd., in association with
British Lion Films Ltd.

ILFORD LIMITED ■ CINE SALES DEPARTMENT • 104 HIGH HOLBORN ■ LONDON, W.C.I ■ Tel. HOLborn 340'

Published by the Proprietors, The Association of Cinematograph, Television and allied Technicians, 2 Soho
Square, London, and Printed by Watford Printers Limited, Watford, Herts.

JUNE-JULY

1957

Association of Cinematograph, Television and allied Technicians
Vol. 23 No ]50 PRICE 6d.

FILM and TV

FOREIGN PRODUCERS
AND DIRECTORS

BRITISH SHOWING

AT CANNES

MOVE FOR FEATURES
WAGE INCREASE

"They loved life" {see page 90)

FILM & TV TECHNICIAN

June July 1957

IMOUR FILM

sekvi m iTii

'You see . . .

their Ko4liivhrom<> prim hug

mulivs all ihv ilUFi>n>m*i>"

22-25 PORTMAN CLOSE ■ BAKER STREET ■ LONDON W.I

Telephone: HUNter 0408-9

June ''July 1957

EDITORIAL

FILM & TV TECHNICIAN

4U1ARK

A THORN IN OUR FLESH

A FTER eleven years of abortive
J -*- negotiations A.C.T.T. officially
informed American film companies
on May 9th that unless in the
meantime an agreement is reached
over the number of foreign pro-
ducers and directors employed on
quota films made by American-
controlled companies in Britain its
members in film studios and
laboratories will be instructed not
to work on any film made for a
production company which is not
a member of the B.F.P.A. after
July 1st, 1957, unless all techni-
cians employed on the film are
British and members of A.C.T.T.
or the production has received
clearance from the Union.

This action, taken by the General
Council with the full approval of
the Feature Producer/Directors'
Section and endorsed by a very
large majority at a crowded meet-
ing of members of the Features
Branch on May 14th, marks a
decisive step forward in our
struggle to achieve an equitable
solution of the problem of foreign
technicians working in this
country.

The absence of any agreement
on this subject with American
companies has been a thorn in the
flesh of A.C.T.T., and particularly
of our own producers and directors,
for a very long time.

Recently a London evening paper
had this to say of a certain new
film:

Officially listed as a British

quota film, but employing an

American director and three

Hollywood stars, (it) ... is

about as English as the

Yankee Stadium.

Similar criticisms could have

fairly been applied to very many

films made here in recent years.

That particular film was made
by a company with whom A.C.T.T.
has no particular quarrel. The
company has always employed
A.C.T.T. members and has meti-
culously observed trade union
agreements. For our part, while
we welcome the employment which

work on such films brings to our
members, we believe that it is
utterly wrong that films made
under such conditions should be
entitled to the classification of
' British ', especially when one
realises the limited amount of
screen time available to British
films under a Quota Act which in
effect reserve:, over 70 per cent of
screen time for American pro-
ducts, and also that such films
receive " Eady money ".

Let nobody suppose that the ban
which is to operate from July 1st
is a piece of arbitrary action in-
spired by insular prejudices. The
General Council in reaching its
decision had no such thoughts in
its mind. The decision which has
been taken, and which we are con-
fident that all our members will
loyally observe, has just one aim,
to give our Union the power to
force the American companies to
negotiate a fair settlement.

We have always welcomed the
co-operation of outstanding film
makers on British productions pro-
vided that it was on a regulated
basis, and on such a basis we shall
most certainly continue to do so.
What we find intolerable, and what
we are determined no longer to
tolerate, is the complete refusal of
American companies, either collec-
tively or individually, to enter into
any agreement to regulate the
number of their producers and
directors employed here.

With the B.F.P.A. we have an
agreement under which B.F.P.A.
members may employ each year
foreign producers or directors
equivalent in number to not more
than ten per cent of the total
number of first feature films made
by B.F.P.A. members as a whole.
From our point of view, and we
believe from the point of view of
the B.F.P.A., that agreement has
been a complete success. The
agreement has been satisfactory,
too, from the point of view of the
Ministry of Labour. There is no
trouble here.

The trouble comes from com-
panies outside the ranks of the

B.F.P.A., and notably from the
American Companies. Time and
again approaches have been made,
either collectively to the Motion
Picture Producers' Association
which represents all American
companies, or to companies in-
dividually, in the hope of getting
some form of quota arrangement
on the lines of the B.F.P.A. agree-
ment.

A.C.T.T. has gone as far as it
could go to make agreement pos-
sible but in every case it has met
with a negative response. Even
an amendment of policy which
would enable us in most cases to
accept a position whereby either
the director or producer could be
foreign provided the other key
post was held by a British tech-
nician has not induced the Ameri-
can companies to negotiate.

It may well be that because we
have exercised patience over eleven
long years the strength of our
desire to get this problem settled,
both for the safeguarding of our
own producers and directors and
of British film production, has been
under-rated on the other side of
the Atlantic. But American com-
panies, like ourselves, are realists,
and we believe that they will now
interpret rightly our determination
to see the present unsatisfactory
position ended. Indeed, as we go
to press a conference was held
under the chairmanship of the
Ministry of Labour at which suffi-
cient progress was made to enable
us to suspend the ban pending the
conclusion of negotiations.

FILM & TV TECHNICIAN

Editor:
MARTIN CHISHOLM

Editorial Office:
2 Soho Square, W.l

Telephone: GERrard 8506

Advertisement Office:

5 and 6 Red Lion Sq., W.C.I

Telephone: HOLborn 4972

FILM & TV TECHNICIAN

June/July 1957

A POINT of some interest to our
-^ TV members arises from the
recent TV link with Prague for the
European Amateur Boxing Cham-
pionships. It appears that several
of the Czech camera operators
were women — a fact that aston-
ished the British commentator.

I can't say that I have ever seen
a camera (wo) man anywhere in TV
(any offers?). Nor telecine opera-
tors or control for that matter.
The only inroad into the males'
customary province I know of is
in Associated Rediffusion, where
there is, I think, a woman sound
balancer. In films the lines of de-
marcation seem to be traditionally
even more rigid. Women

"mixers"? It seems unthinkable.
About the only department where
women and men compete on equal
terms is in the editorial and pro-
duction section. But A.C.T.T. is not,
of course, opposed to full sex
equality, and we remember one or
two very competent women mem-
bers of the Sound department dur-
ing the war, as we also remember
the all-women documentary unit
which functioned for a short while.

Warm enough?

Head Office has had a letter
from H.M.S. Warrior, somewhere,
I presume, in the Pacific. It is
from Harvey Harrison, who has
been directing the official film of
the H-Bomb tests in the Christmas
Islands.

He says that the heat was ter-
rific — averaging 96 in the shade,
and humidity of 98 — which made
it " uncomfortable " at times. For
my money, that close to the
H-Bomb tests would make it un-
comfortable all the time. Harvey
Harrison wishes to be remembered
to his friends in the Street — and
hopes to see them all in July.

Tribute . . .

The tale that it is the dis-
gruntled and inefficient who make
enthusiastic trade unionists dies
hard. It's all the more pleasant to
see a tribute, in a sense, to the
Union in the Daily Film Renter of
May 24th. The quote : " Three

more shows, Under Fire, directed
by Herbert Wise; Youth Wants to
Know, by Kurt Lewenhak; and
What the Papers Say, by James
Ormerod, have all tended to stimu-
late the minds of viewers as well
as providing good entertainment ".
The author is writing of Granada
TV. Herbert Wise is the Granada
representative on the TV Nego-
tiating Committee, Kurt Lewenhak
is the deputy steward, and James
Ormerod a leading member of the
Granada Committee !

" Temptation Pink " ?

In an industry noted for its rapid
changes, the latest idea for in-
creased efficiency comes from ABC
Television. This is to have the
technicians in coloured jerseys.
Sound and camera wear red, elec-
tricians grey, and " props " black.
There has been no suggestion so
far for jerseys, or their colours,
for directors, for instance, but if
there is to be a different colour
jersey for every grade in television
the ABC TV management will
have to turn to the lipstick manu-
facturers for tints!

tpcP^

N.F.F.C s Annual
Report

Those film industry chiefs who
have been throwing their arms up
in surprise at the National Film
Finance Corporation making a
small loan for a TV picture are
only displaying their own ignor-
ance of the purposes of the
N.F.F.C. The Corporation's con-
stitution allows it to finance TV
films, and, as its Managing Direc-
tor David Kingsley told our annual
general meeting over two years
ago, it considers that the future of

the production side of the industry
depends on the full exploitation of
theatrical and TV film distribution.

All the fuss stems from a short
25-word paragraph in the Annual
Report and Statement of Accounts
of the N.F.F.C. for the year to
March 31st, 1957 IH.M. Stationery
Office, 1/3), and has tended to dis-
tract attention from what has be-
come one of the most important
documents of each year.

Here this year are reflected the
fortunes of our members in colour
laboratories, as seen by the fact
that less is on average spent on
laboratory charges on each
N.F.F.C. -assisted production, be-
cause more black-and-white sub-
jects were made last year; here,
also, is evidence of further speed-
up in the studios — each feature film
taking an average of thirty-nine
days in front of the cameras, in-
stead of forty-one days the year
before, and forty-six days the year
before that; here, too, are signs of
Government policy, as seen in the
recent reduction of Entertainment
Tax and increase in the Bank Rate.

Not Enthusiastic

The Report is not really en-
thusiastic about either — the in-
terest paid by the Corporation on
loans from the Board of Trade and
the banks has had to be increased
with the Bank Rate, and the stabil-
ising effect of the reduction of E.T.
is not regarded as likely to offset
the reduction in net box-office
takings due to any further falls in
cinema-going.

Production costs on the average
film have increased in the past
year, and the N.F.F.C. has in-
creased its profits to a record
figure of £84,727. Maybe that is
why, although it notes that it sub-
mitted proposals to the Board of
Trade on what is needed to safe-
guard British film production,
there are no signs in the Report of
any suggestions for any funda-
mental change in the set-up of the
industry.

This is in marked contrast to
the long-term and short-term pro-
posals made at the same time by
the six film Unions. This Shaw-
cross-like mentality on the part of
the N.F.F.C. may please the
Government, but it will not begin
to solve the problems of closed
studios. unemployment, casual
work and American domination in
the way that the Unions' joint
document can.

Christopher Brunei

June /July 1957

FILM & TV TECHNICIAN

AS OTHERS SEE US

FRED TONGE, our new Organiser, gives his impressions
after his first four months with A.C.T.T.

" ICH DIEN ". Were the A.C.T.T.
an individual and not a corporate
body, " I serve " might well be its
motto.

I have been asked what im-
pressed me most on coming into
the organisation, after many years
with another union (the Transport
Salaried Staffs Association) and
long experience through Trades
Councils with various unions.

To me, the most striking thing
is the service given to members,
and the degree of consultation be-
tween management and workers.

There are, of course, obvious
differences between the railway in-
dustry — purely utilitarian, in
many respects sadly behind the
times and handicapped by lack of
finance — and the film industry
which is creative, artistic, and by
comparison, modern.

Attitude of Managements

I find of particular interest the
attitude of the managements in
the film industry to the Union. The
line of demarcation between
managerial function and union
activity is not so sharply drawn
as it is in many other fields. This
is due I think to the comprehen-
sive agreements which have been
drawn up, together with the fact
that many of those in authority
are members of A.C.T.T. Joint
consultation is more of a reality
than in any other industry with
which I have come into contact.

In so many industries, the union,
no matter how well organised, is
always the suppliant, and is de-
barred from discussing many sub-
jects of vital interest to its mem-
bers, on the grounds that this or
that is a managerial function and
not the concern of the Union. It
will be appreciated that this atti-
tude is bound to lead to frustration
and is not conducive to getting the
best from the people on the job.

In the Railway Industry one has
to contend with an attitude among
the management which has its
origins in the past, when workers
were unorganised and consulta-
tion was unheard of. Too often,
even today, managements seek to

impose changes without prior dis-
cussion, and local bosses try to
circumvent the provisions of
national agreements. Too many of
the ' higher-ups ' do not believe in

Fred Tonge

nationalisation of the railways and
have not attempted to make it
work efficiently.

This attitude makes negotiation
a very hard task, and calls for
constant vigilance on the part of
the union members, through their
local departmental committees and
Trade Union Branches.

Impressive Speed

The speed with which minor
differences in the film industry are
ironed out has greatly impressed
me. My previous experience has
been that far too often matters
that should have been settled in
a few moments have been delayed
for weeks and even months simply
because no one appeared to have
the authority to reach a settle-
ment.

The attention given to applica-
tions for membership of the Union
is something quite new in my ex-
perience. The old army joke " If
you're warm your in ", can far too
often be applied to membership of

a union. If you are literate
enough to sign your name, or fail-
ing this, make a cross, you become
a member.

This is understandable in an in-
dustry where there are large sec-
tions of unorganised workers, and
where every member counts, but
I find it refreshing to come into
an industry where four sponsors
and the blessing of the shop
steward must accompany every
application for membership. That
the sponsors and the shop steward
are required to give reasons in
writing why they consider the
applicant is fit to be a member
of the industry and of the Union,
makes it clear to the applicant
that he is, by joining the A.C.T.T.,
expected to make his contribution
both to the Union and to the in-
dustry.

Room for Improvement

I do not imagine, of course, that
every member of A.C.T.T. is a
100 per cent trade unionist, or that
all members play an active part in
the Union — I am sure there is
room for improvement in atten-
dance at branch or sectional meet-
ings, as in all other unions.

Neither am I under the illusion
that all employers are angels,
some do attempt to pull a ' fast
one ', sometimes they get away
with it. The reasonably satisfac-
tory situation is the result of the
strength of the Union and the
loyalty of its members.

The relation between the various
unions in the film industry is an
amicable one, and is certainly far
happier than the relations between
the railway unions. Unfortunately
the joint action built up during
the war years had broken down
and public disagreement and re-
criminations are not uncommon,
with the resultant weakening of
the Union's bargaining powers.

Within the A.C.T.T. itself, there
is greater cohesion between
various grades; the whole crew,
whether camera, sound, produc-
tion, or what have you, is con-
cerned with the ultimate result of
their work. There is pride in the

(Continued on page 86)

FILM & TV TECHNICIAN

June July 1957

As Others See Us

( Continued)

" end product ". On the railway,
too often the " end product " is
never seen by the rank and file
worker.

As I intimated earlier, the in-
dividual attention given to mem-
bers of the Union is something
new in my experience. Every
member seems to be known per-
sonally at Soho Square, committees
give more detailed consideration
to individual problems than I have
experienced before. This is, of
course, possible because of the
compact area within which the
Union operates, and the relative
size of the film industry to rail-
ways.

I have found my first four
months exciting and invigorating.
I would like to thank the members
of A.C.T.T., be they members of
the General Council, the Executive
Committee, shop stewards or rank
and file with whom I have come
into contact, for the friendship and
toleration they have shown to the
" new boy ".

The A.C.T.T. is respected among
other Unions, not only in the en-
tertainment industry, but in a far
wider field, because it has set a
standard of approach and conduct
second to none.

FILM COMPETITION

In connection with the Inter-
national Exhibition to be held in
Brussels in 1958 La Cinematheque
de Beige (The Belgian Film
Library) is organising an Inter-
national Experimental Film Com-
petition open to independent film-
makers throughout the world.

Films entered may be either in
16mm. or 35mm., in black and
white, or in colour, sound or silent.
The purpose of the competition is
" to encourage free artistic crea-
tion, the spirit of research and
pioneering effort." The term " ex-
perimental " will be interpreted as
embracing all films which " in
their form reveal an attempt to
explore new developments of cine-
matographic expression, or which
by their content touch on subject
matter unfamiliar in the cinema."

There will be two Grands Prix,
one of ten thousand Belgian francs
and one of five thousand Belgian
francs. Full particulars of the
competition may be obtained from
La Cinematheque de Belgique,
Palais des Beaux-Arts, Brussels.

TECHNIRAMA

By Ralph Bond

An impressive demonstration of
their " Technirama " process was
given by Technicolor at the Odeon,
Leicester Square, on June 1st be-
fore an invited audience of over
2,000 people.

Technirama is a new anamor-
phic system which claims to over-
come all the defects of standard
anamorphic systems and to present
a picture of perfect sharpness and
definition.

These claims seem fully justified
and if the brilliance of the Odeon
demonstration can be repeated in
the average release cinema, audi-
ences are in for a treat.

Excerpts from many films now
in production and using the new
process were screened, first in
CinemaScope ratio, then in Vista-
Vision and finally in the full "Road
Show" ratio where a special
double-frame projector is used.

In each case the results were
outstandingly good. There was
great depth of focus, pin-point
definition, and no fringing or fall-
ing away at the edges. All the
excerpts were projected without
sound so that the audience could
concentrate on the picture quality
alone. (For the benefit of our
Sound Section it should be stated
that this does not forecast a return
to silent films!)

35mm. Colour Negative

The great merit of Technirama
is that it employs standard 35mm.
colour negative which moves hori-
zontally through the camera ex-
posing eight perforation frames,
and from this negative prints can
be made for practically all aspect
ratios — CinemaScope, VistaVision
and other standard projection
ratios, including 16mm. No new
projection equipment is needed in
the cinema, except for the " Road
Show " prints where a special pro-
jector has been designed in which
a double-frame print from the
negative moves horizontally
through the projector at twenty-
four frames per second.

This double-frame projection
(which incorporates anamorphotic
correction by vertical compression
instead of horizontal expansion)
achieves quite amazing results and

had the Odeon audience applaud-
ing enthusiastically.

Productionwise, it is claimed
that the process increases costs
by no more than £5,000-£7,000 on
an average feature film. Stock
consumption on the first five
Technirama films increased not by
100', but by 60 f r. as a result of
the fewer set-ups required. All the
usual special effects — dissolves,
fades, matte shots, etc. — are prac-
ticable and the results enhanced
because of the larger negative.

Breath-taking Beauty

Most of the extracts shown at
the Odeon were exterior scenes
from films on location in France,
Japan, Italy, and other countries,
and it is here, probably, that
Technirama is shown at its best.
Scenes of breath-taking beauty
were unfolded without a flaw to
mar the perfection.

Technically our industry marches
forward in a wondrous way, but
that ever-nagging still-small-voice
that demands subject matter to
match the technique will not, we
hope, be quietened.

Soho Fair

A special feature of this year's
Soho Fair will be " MEET THE
WORLD ", an exhibition of photo-
graphs in the hall of Notre Dame
de France, 5 Leicester Place,
Leicester Square, from July 15th
to July 20th.

The organisers' aim is to portray
Soho at work and play: they would
welcome the co-operation of
A.C.T.T. members in lending
photographs within the following
range: studio portraits and Soho
personalities, theatrical pictures,
Soho activities and street scenes
and pictures of the Soho Fairs of
1955 and 1956.

Will members who have pictures
to offer please contact the Secre-
tary of the Soho Association, Mr.
Michael Napper. St. Anne's House,
Dean Street. (Gerrard 2030).

June/July 1957

FILM & TV TECHNICIAN

Obituaries

W. H. LINDOP

All A.C.T.T. members, and parti-
cularly members of the Sound Sec-
tion, will learn with regret of the
death of W. H. Lindop, " Lindy "
to his many friends, a long-stand-
ing member and Sound Supervisor
at Walton Studios.

"Lindy" first entered the industry
in 1933 at British and Dominion
Studios, Elstree, leaving there in
1936 to go to Pinewood. While in
this studio he was mixer for
Woman Alone, starring Elizabeth
Bergner.

After the war, during which he
was attached to the R.A.F., he re-
turned to Denham, and after this
studio closed down he went to
Walton. Here he was mixer of
such films as Scrooge, Pickwick
Papers, Man Who Watched the
Trains Go By and Joe Macbeth.

W. H. Lindop was highly thought
of by his colleagues in the industry,
both as technician and friend. At
the last meeting of the General
Council, members stood in silence
to his memory.

The Union offers sincere con-
dolences to his family.

HAROLD KING

Members of A.C.C.T. will regret
to hear of the death at the early
age of 49 years of Harold King,
Recording Director at A.B.P.C.
Studios. He died on Wednesday,
May 22nd, 1957, in St. Mary's Hos-
pital, Paddington, after a long and
painful illness.

Harold was educated at Batter-
sea Grammar School, and took an
early interest in radio, serving as
a ship's radio operator in his
youth.

He first entered the film industry
as an electrician at Beaconsfield
Studios, and then became a
Camera Operator on some of the
silent films made there.

Later, with the advent of talkies,
he transferred to B.I. P. Elstree,
and was employed as a Sound
Camera Operator on the first
sound film made there. Blackmail.

Afterwards, returning to

Beaconsfield he became Sound
Mixer, and later Chief of Sound,
and remained there until the out-
break of war, when he took over as
Chief Sound Engineer at British
National Studios, Elstree.

A.C.T.T. Moves on Features

Wages

A.C.T.T. is making an immediate
move for a substantial increase in
wage rates for members working
in Features.

This step, which follows on the
resolution passed by A.G.M., was
endorsed by a unanimous vote at
an exceptionally well-attended
meeting of the Features Branch
at Caxton Hall, Westminster, on
May 14th. Despite the heat-wave
and the lure of the open air the
hall was so crowded that it was a
case of ' standing-room only ' for
many who were not able to get
there early.

The two main items on the
agenda were the endorsement of
the ban on foreign technicians
(with which we deal on our Edi-
torial page) and of the move for a
wages increase.

Speaking on the wages claim
George Elvin reviewed the in-
creases that had been obtained
since the Features Agreement was
first signed in 1947. All grades,
he said, which did not exceed

In 1948, after the old B.I. P.
stages were rebuilt as A.B.P.C.'s
new studios, he was appointed Re-
cording Director there, a position
he held until his death.

Only those who worked with him
know the amount of work and
effort that he put into the building
and equipping of the A.B.P.C.
Sound Department. He had an
appreciation of the finished pro-
duct second to none, and was
always striving for the best. He
readily tried and adopted new
techniques, but always with the
end result in view.

Without doubt his strength lay
in his wide knowledge of all
branches of film making, attention
to detail and a dogged perse-
verance which persisted even
through his long illness.

During the last year of his life,
his courage in carrying on nor-
mally with his job, despite the con-
siderable pain he suffered, com-
manded the admiration of all his
colleagues. He never gave up and
always maintained he would
recover.

N.C.

£12 10s. Od. a week in 1947 had
since then received increases total-
ling £3 0s. 4d. All grades between
£12 10s. Od. and £25 had received
increases totalling £2 9s. 4d. Grades
with a minimum salary of £30 had
received £3, while those on a
salary of £40 and over had received
increases which totalled £4. These
figures represented increases of
24% for the lowest grade, 20% to
10% for the second grade and 10%
for the remaining two grades.

Against this the cost of living,
as indicated by the Index of Retail
Prices showed food up by 86% as
compared with 1947, clothing and
household goods up by 48% and
drink and tobacco up by 23%. On
an arithmetical basis, in terms of
the present purchasing power of
the pound, members on the 1947
rate of £12 10s. Od. should now be
getting £20. Those on the £25 rate
should be getting £40, those at £30
should be getting £43 16s. Od. and
those at £40 £58 8s. Od.

The General Secretary pointed
out that the Eady Levy had now
been got on to a compulsory basis,
and A.C.T.T. was among the unions
that had pressed for this. This
assured an increase of £1^ million
in the first year to the producing
companies and there was a case,
quite apart from the rise in the
cost of living, for film technicians
to receive some of this increase.

The General Council felt justified
in going ahead on the basis of the
A.G.M. resolution and an official
approach would be made at once to
the B.F.P.A. asking for an im-
mediate meeting to discuss a sub-
stantial increase. " We shall make
the application right away," George
Elvin said, " and we shall report
back to you. The result of our
negotiations will depend just as
much on your solidarity and enthu-
siasm as it will upon our negotiat-
ing skill."

George Elvin added that A.C.T.T.
had a very difficult job in these
matters. They had members who
were paid low rates and others
earning very high figures. All that
they could do was to negotiate on
a minimum for each grade. At the
same time they felt that members
receiving a small personal extra
for merit should be included in the
increase that A.C.T.T. was seeking.

FILM & TV TECHNICIAN

June/July 1957

CANNES IN REVIEW

Lindsay Anderson

IT all depends where you sit.
" This Year's Flop," ran the
headline of the Kine Weekly report
on this year's Cannes Festival, and
its correspondent went on to say:
" This year I got the impression
the festival was a ' has-been '."
Yet to many of us (myself in-
cluded), this tenth International
Festival at Cannes was one of the
best of the series, and certainly
one of the most vigorous and en-
couraging in recent years. En-
couraging, too, not merely for the
quantity of good and promising
work shown, but for the quite ex-
tensive reporting of the films in
the more responsible papers.

There was one aspect of the
occasion, though, that largely
escaped attention, and that is our
own showing. Yet this is an im-
portant aspect, and one we should
do well to consider. I wish indeed
that more British film makers had
been able to see that fortnight's
bird's-eye-view of world produc-
tion. There was much to learn
from it.

Disturbing

Since I am writing as a techni-
cian, to technicians, there is no
point in my straining for polite-
ness. So I will kick off by saying
that the really disturbing thing
about Cannes this year, from the
British point of view, was the
faded appearance of our own con-
tribution. As the young Argen-
tinian director of The House of
the Angel remarked to me after
the showing of our first entry :
" It reminds me of the sort of film
you were making in Britain before
the war."

This perhaps comes as some-
thing of a shock to technicians at
home, where certainly both High
Tide at Noon and Yang-tsi Inci-
dent must be numbered among the
more ambitious and respectable of
our current productions. It is only
when you get to an international
festival, and see work presented
not only by the big film powers
like America, Russia, France,
Italy and Japan, but also by coun-
tries with resources and experience
far more limited, that you realise

how far we in Britain are falling
behind.

It has been a swift reversal. The
first time I went to Cannes, to the
festival in 1949, our prestige
was high : in fact we won th?
Grand Prix, with The Third Man.
Since 1951, however, when The

fully, you must have some idea of
what is being done in the cinema
outside the industries of Britain
and America — and this of course is
one of the chief fascinations of
these international festivals. Two
or three years ago, the emphasis
was all on the new techniques, and

" DON QUIXOTE

Browning Version was prized both
for script and Michael Redgrave's
performance, we have not won a
single award, except for shorts —
The Stranger Left No Card, The
Pleasure Garden and Together. Yet
people abroad still remember the
palmy days of the British cinema
in the immediate post-war years.
" Surely," they ask, " Your selec-
tion must be badly made? Surely
this isn't the best you have to send
us?" Such questions are difficult
to answer.

To understand these criticisms

. . Kl Ssl \

on colour and Cinemascope in par-
ticular. Every director, at every
press conference, was asked what
he felt about them : and of course
every director made the same
reply : " It depends on the sub-
ject." This year there was no need
to ask such questions at all. It
was obvious that the new tech-
niques have been largely assimila-
ted. They are no longer considered
particularly exciting in themselves,
and they do not atone for weak-
nesses in ideas, stories or direction.
Films were shown at Cannes in

June/July 1957

FILM & TV TECHNICIAN

colour and in black-and-white; in
the old standard proportions, in
wide-screen, in wider-screen, and
in CinemaScope, with and without
stereophonic sound. But whatever
the format, one characteristic was
common to films from almost
everywhere : a high percentage of
location shooting, realism of sets
and use of authentic exteriors, are
no longer considered particularly
adventurous. Films today are ex-
pected to look lifelike. To give a
few examples. The American
Bachelor Party (widescreen black-
and-white : like Marty directed by
Delbert Mann from a Paddy Chay-
evsky script) drew a large part of
its strength from the authentic
New York atmosphere of its shoot-
ing. The Russian Don Quixote
(colour and CinemaScope) gained
enormously from its lavish use of
exteriors, its wide, rocky land-
scapes, as well as its fine sets.
Jules Dassin's Celui Qui Doit
Mourir (black-and-white Cinema-
Scope) could not have carried any-
thing like such a dramatic impact
without its extensive use of harsh
Cretan landscape. Nor is this true
of large-scale productions only.
Take Rekava, for instance {The
Line of Destiny : black-and-white
standard screen). This is the first
film from Ceylon to capture a truly
national flavour, made on a tiny
budget and with primitive facili-
ties. Nevertheless, Lester Peries,
its young director, has had the
courage to break away from the
studio-bound conventions of the
Singhalese cinema, and so has pro-
duced a picture which conveys
charmingly the feel of life in the
fields and villages of this country.

PEOPLE OF THE RICE LANDS "... JAPAN

Artificial and Enclosed

It is by comparison with films
like these that our own contribu-
tions seemed sadly artificial and
enclosed. A story like High Tide
at Noon cries out for a lyrical,
open-air treatment : yet even its
documentary sequences seemed
tame, and at every possible oppor-
tunity we cut back into studio.
Outside a gale was blowing, but
the backing through the window
remained solidly static. Even
Yang-tse Incident, seen abroad,
has the same timid, conventional
feel to it. That final sequence,
with the ships racing joyfully to-
wards each other, did my eyes
deceive me, or was there really no
corresponding movement on the
backing as we jolted back to the
studio insert of Richard Todd on
the bridge of the "Amethyst " ?

Technique is finally secondary.
Agreed. But it is even more dis-

turbing to see how cut off our
cinema remains from the move-
ment of thought and feeling in the
world outside. This was not so
with most of the films shown on
the screen at Cannes. Problems of
life in the big modern cities
(Bachelor Party); problems of
adolescence and snobbery (The
House of the Angel); conflicts of
emotion and conscience (the Rus-
sian The Forty-First); the problem
of violence and exploitation ( Celui
Qui Doit Mourir); the problem of
war ... Of course we make war
films in Britain, plenty of them.
But how often do they get above
the level of a boy's adventure
yarn? One of the most powerful
films at Cannes this year was the
Polish Kanal, a tragic recons 1 ruc-
tion of the last days of the War-
saw Rising in 1944, grim, pitiless
and magnificent. " We do not pre-
sent this film," said the Poles, " as
an exciting entertainment. We pre-
sent it as a reminder. So that

such things may never happen
again." Surely it is only such a
basic attitude that can justify con-
tinued production of films about
the war.

Eager to Learn

The most encouraging thing
about Cannes this year was its
revelation of the amount of daring,
searching work being done by film
makers all over the world — and of
the rapidity with which the
younger industries are developing.
The Poles are eager to see films
from abroad, eager to learn tech-
niques from Hollywood. Yet if you
see their films, you wonder what
they have to learn — beyond com-
mercial gloss. Far more impor-
tant is the fact that they, and
many others, have the courage
and the capacity to tackle the
problems of today in a really con-

(Continued on page 90)

FILM & TV TECHNICIAN

June/July 1957

temporary spirit. And this is what
makes exciting, living cinema.

In such an atmosphere you
realise, as perhaps it is difficult to
realise at home, that the panic into

" Caberia's Nights "

Italy

which many of us have been
thrown by the encroachments of
television is an unreal thing.

The cinema can only be "killed"
by TV if we have enfeebled it first
by starving it of ideas and intelli-
gence and passion; by continuing
to rely on " safe " formulae. The
British specialised distributor at
Cannes who remarked that he saw
nothing of commercial interest at
the festival except Funny Face is
only demonstrating his own lack
of showmanship and imagination.
The same lesson must be learned
by all of us — writers, directors,
producers and technicians to-
gether.

We can unship as many boat-
loads of starlets as we like on the
beaches of Cannes and Venice. But
our cinema will be no nearer re-
gaining its lost prestige until we
take it seriously ourselves, and
bring it up to date.

COVER PICTURE

COVER STILL is from the Polish
film They Loved Life, the story of
the 1944 Warsaw Rising. Director :
Andrej Wajda.

Camera Column

VOUR outgoing Committee did a
I very good job — all their meet-
ings were very well attended and
I think we owe them a vote of
thanks.

Your new Committee elected at
our last Camera A.G.M. are:
Chairman, Ted Worringham; Vice-
Chairman, Gerry Moss; Secretary,
Harold Payne; Assistant Secre-
tary, Manny Yospa; Feature Re-
presentatives: Ron Boakes, Wally
Byatt, Phil Chips, Bert Easy,
Freddie Ford, Arthur Graham, Bob
Huke, Walter Lasselly, Bernie
Lewis, Morton Lewis, Jock Mills,
Ron Robson. Shorts and Docu-
mentaries: Ken Gordon, Lewis
McL.od, Alf Hicks (this Com-
mittee will co-opt a further five
members). Newsreel: Jimmy

Gemmell, Bill Hooker, Terry
O'Brien, Eddie Smales.

You can support your Com-
mittee by turning up at all general
Camera Section meetings.

Crewing

The General Council have en-
dorsed our recommendation relat-
ing to camera crews not covered
by existing agreements as follows :

1. SOUND. — Shooting with their

own sound unit; a crew of
four — Cameraman, Opera-
tor, 1st and 2nd Assistants.

2. sound. — Shooting as extra

alongside unit; a crew of
three — Cameraman, 1st
and 2nd Assistants.

3. silent. — Exterior shooting

which does not involve
lights, reflectors or artistes,
a crew of two — Cameraman
and 1st Assistant.

4. All other silent shooting, a
crew of three — Cameraman,
1st and 2nd Assistants.

Now it's up to you to see that
these recommendations are carried
out.

The Hal Britton Fund

A cheque has been presented to
Mrs. Hal Britton for £90 8s. 6d.
She wishes to thank everybody
concerned for the kind thought.

Good Work

I thought Cameraman Jack
Hilyard did a beautiful job on
Anastasia.

The majority of the public did

not know the film was made here,

or that it was photographed by an

| Englishman. Something should be

done about this. I have a sugges-
tion : Why not start a Camera-
man's Annual Award for the best
colour and black and white photo-
graphy in the country. We could
call it the " Cinette "... or if you
have any suggestions, let's hear
about them.

Commercial TV

A formula has been found — give
them good quality and use the best
technicians.

I have just been associated with
a series of thirteen 15-minute com-
mercials for the News of the
World, which was well received by
the clients. Here are the names
of the camera crew that worked on
the productions :

Cameramen: Henry Alekan,
Lionel Baines, Desmond
Dickinson, Otto Heller, Morton
Lewis, Cedric Williams.
Operators: John Breen, Cec.
Cooney, Denys Coop, Gus
Drisse, Harry Gillam, Harold
Haysom, Gerry Moss.
1st Assistants: Peter Allwork,
Jimmy Devis, Stan Evans,
Mark Hyams, Gerry Lewis,
Keith Nielsen, Les Paul, Reg
Selley, Monty Tomlinson,
Brian West, Paul Wilson,
Manny Wynn.
2nd Assistants: Ronnie Fox,
Revel King, Bob Parker,
David Rea, Jim Shimerock.

I must apologise for not men-
tioning the rest of the technicians,
but this is a Camera column !

Plane Facts

Desmond Dickinson told me that
after shooting was finished he was
going to Paris for a few days. I
suggested that the accountant
could buy his flight ticket from his
salary and thus save tax. He
answered : " Thanks very much,
but I have my own plane."

Of course, the story has another
ending. We wanted him for a
fortnight's shooting at a later date
but he was somewhere in France.
After calling four airports he was
located, agreed to come back (be-
cause his plane had broken down,
and the money was good) — if we
paid his air fare. And we did!

Foreign Assignments

Cameraman Cedric Williams is
in Western Nigeria for their In-

June/July 1957

FILM & TV TECHNICIAN

formation Service. I understand he
will be there for twelve months.

Cameraman Ben Hart has prac-
tically settled down in Nairobi as
a Producer/Director, and if you
happen to wander around through
the jungles of Kenya you'll most
likely bump into Cameraman
Bernard Kunicki shooting game —
with a camera — for the govern-
ment.

France

I had occasion to visit the
Billancourt, Paris, Studios, w'.^re
I saw a fashion show being shot
for a British TV commercial.
Cameraman Henry Alekan turned
in a beautiful job on a Dupont
Superior No. 2. Picon Borel was
the operator and the Assistant
Mike Mickachosky. I didn't get
the Loader's name. They were so
busy he never left the dark room !

While I was in Paris I bumped
into Colonel Thornton Freeland,
who used to work here before the
war. He was producing and
directing a documentary for
the U.S. Government through
S.H.A.P.E. It was a nice set-up :
three camera units and 350,000
dollars just to show Paris to the
Yanks. Some documentary !

British National Studios

There are two TV series on the
floor. The Charlie Chan series is
being photographed by Ken Talbot
who, I understand, is in the run-
ning for the title of the " Most
Handsome Cameraman ". Opera-
tor — Gus Drisse — who is not in the
running. Assistant Cameraman :
Wally Byatt; Loader: Michael
Nunn.

The other series entitled O.S.S.
or Office of Strategic Service, or
the M.I. 5 of U.S.A. is being
photographed by Brendan Stafford,
" whose hair is turning silver ".
Operator : Leo Rogers. Assistant :
Monty " Tiny " Tomlinson. Peter
Burke — and no cracks. And the
Camera Department is still under
the supervision of Terry (Limited
Company) Turtel.

Complaint

That not enough Camera Section
Members turned up at the A.G.M.
I am sure if you tried you could
make it, so start training for next
year's A.G.M.

" Viewfinder"

FOR SALE

Pictorial record of Edwardian era.
Complete set of " Ladies' Field "
1898-1908. Can inspect London
Office. Sell £12 or offer. Box 209,
Charles Sell, 5-6 Red Lion Square,
London, W.C.I.

Experimental Production Fund

SIR MICHAEL BALCON WRITES:

May I, through the courtesy of
your journal, give some informa-
tion to your readers about an
activity which I believe to be im-
portant to the future of British
film-making : the work of the
British Film Institute's Experi-
mental Production Fund.

The Fund was set up with money
voted by the film trade Associa-
tions from the pre-statutory British
Film Production Fund at the time
of the establishment of the
National Film Theatre. It is ad-
ministered by a Committee set up
by the Governors of the British
Film Institute. In the four years
since its inception, the Committee
has produced, or helped to produce,
ten films — among them The Door
in the Wall, Indian Fantasy,
Momma Don't Allow, Rowlandson's
England, A Short Vision and
Together.

We continue to look for promis-
ing projects. Our normal pro-
cedure is, in the first instance, to
consider outline treatments with
an approximate budget : we prefer
them to come from people with
some amateur or professional
knowledge of film production but
this is not an invariable rule. Film-
makers are not paid — we provide
stock, equipment, facilities — but
they share in the revenue from the
films.

We are interested in genuinely
experimental work but have no
preference between experiments in
style, technique or subject. The
films may be made on 16mm. or
35mm. but ideas requiring

elaborate technical means usually
have to be rejected because of
costs : potential applicants should
bear this in mind.

I hope you will agree that the
work of the Committee in finding
and encouraging talented young
film-makers is important and help
us by bringing it to the notice of
your readers.

Yours faithfully,

MICHAEL BALCON,
Chairman, B.F.I. Experi-
mental Production Fund.

BERNARD FORD MARRIED

Freddy Ford's second son,
cameraman Bernard Ford, was
married at the end of May at
Eastcote to Miss Celia Marilyn
Potts, of Ilfracombe.

Bernard Ford was cameraman
at Pinewood Studios on Tame as a
Turtle, A Town Like Alice, An
Alligator Named Daisy and Reach
for the Sky, including special
effects. His current picture is
Campbell's Kingdom.

Miss Potts, who is an all-round
sportswoman and local tennis
champion, was Beauty Queen at
Ilfracombe in 1954.

CYRIL KNOWLES

We are glad to see cameraman
Cyril Knowles back in harness
after his recent illness.

His work on High Flight was
first class.

OFFICIAL APPOINTMENT

FILM EDITOR (known locally as Film Production Officer) required by
Federal Government of Nigeria for Film Production Unit, Information
Service, on contract for 18/24 months in first instance. Salary accord-
ing to experience in scale (including inducement addition) £1,170 rising
to £1,488 a year. Gratuity at rate £150 a year. Outfit Allowance £60.
Liberal leave on full salary. Free passages for officer and wife. Grant
up to £150 annually for maintenance of children in U.K. Free passages
for children up to cost of two adult return fares. (It is thus often
possible for an officer whose children are being educated in the U.K.
to arrange for them to spend two or more school vacations in West
Africa with free passages). Candidates must be experienced in editing
to final stage both 16mm. and 35 mm. documentary and educational films
and must have the ability to lay dialogue, commentary, music and effects
tracks. A knowledge of film processing would be an advantage. Write
to the Crown Agents, 4 Millbank, London, S.W.I. State age, name in
block letters, full qualifications and experience and quote M3B/35002/CY.

FILM & TV TECHNICIAN

June July 1957

Not So Free Cinema

FILM technicians, being cynics,
will not need to be told that
" Free Cinema " doesn't mean any-
thing of the kind. In fact the Bri-
tish Film Institute, which on the
whole does a useful job of work,
deserves a smart kick in the pants
for applying such a stupid generic
title to films which it finances from
a special fund to aid experiments
in the medium which might not
otherwise find financial backing.

By " free ", the Institute pre-
sumably means films that are not
sponsored, tied or restricted by
financial or any considerations
other than the pure flow of the
creative spirit. This makes non-
sense of the new " free cinema "
programme at the National Film
Theatre where the piece de resis-
tance is a film financed by the
Ford Motor Company, but more of
this later.

Occasional Enlightened

Sponsorship

There is, of course, no such thing
as " free cinema ", but there is to
be found occasionally, and much
too occasionally, an enlightened
sponsorship, whether from Ford's
or the British Film Institute,
which is prepared to give a rela-
tive freedom to the creative film
maker, and lest there be any mis-
understanding, the more this hap-
pens the better for the health of
our industry. This being said, the
" free " film makers must be pre-
pared to take criticism. Unfor-
tunately some orthodox critics,
punch-drunk with years of review-
ing the standard commercial pro-
duct, are inclined to throw over-
board any critical sense that may
remain to them and shout " Halle-
lujah " when the " free cinema "
boys come to town.

This frame of mind does no good
to anybody. Early British docu-
mentary which pre-dated " free
cinema " by twenty years or there-
abouts, fought for favourable
notices but also thrived on criti-
cism and its inheritors must learn
to do the same.

The new programme " Free
Cinema Three — Look at Britain "
features two films, Nice Time and
Evert/ Dun Except Christ mux. The
former is made by Claude Goretta
and Alain Tanner and purports to
be an impression of Piccadilly

Circus on any Saturday night. It
is really beyond analysis because
it is so much a personal viewpoint.
To anyone who recalls Ruttmann's
Berlin (1927) it would seem to be
a dull and uninspired exercise in
peep-hole manipulation, although
it has its flashes of perception as
when the National Anthem of the
closing cinemas is played against
the giant hypnotising neon lights
of Coco-Cola.

" Every Day Except Christinas "

The more important work of the
two is Lindsay Anderson's Every
Day Except Christmas, which as I
mentioned earlier, was financed by
Ford's, whose only condition, I be-
lieve, was that the film should
involve transport. My recollection
is that the old Gas Company adop-
ted a far more " free " policy in
the thirties when it financed that
shattering social documentary
Housing Problems without insist-
ing that it should be a film in-
volving gas ovens.

Lindsay Anderson's film is about
Covent Garden Market and within
the limitations he has imposed
himself on the conception and
shaping of his theme, it is an im-
pressive if much over-long exer-
cise in a style of documentary film-
making which was once fashion-
able but has recently been out of
favour. Its impact owes much to
the brilliant, uninhibited camera
movements of Walter Lassally and
it is a pity that the sound track
does not have the same mastery of
intention and achievement as the
camera work.

In the programme notes handed
out at the Press Show there is a
long piece by Lindsay Anderson
stating what he was and was not
trying to do in this film. He was
not " trying to make an informa-
tion film, or an instructional film
or a picturesque film." He goes on
to say : " I feel that at the moment
it is more important for a progres-
sive artist to make a positive
affirmation than an aggressive
criticism." And : " It is in the
light of my belief in human values
that I have endeavoured to make
this film about Covent Garden
Market."

So his film must be judged
against his intentions. Whether the
film of aggressive criticism (Hous-
ing Problems again) is more im-
portant than the " positive affir-

mation " can be argued another
time. The only positive affirmation
in Every Day Except Christmas is
that the workers in the Market are
splendid people, warm, human,
expert at their craft, the Salt of
th^ Earth. Between them, Ander-
son and Lassally have proved this
point nobly.

But is it enough? Grierson and
his group proved the same thing
in other fields twenty years ago.
often with much keener penetra-
tion. Is Lindsay Anderson satis-
fied with proving it all over again?
Where does the film of human
values go from here? When the
next step can be taken, when
human values can be related to
the H-Bomb world we live in or
may soon die in, it won't matter
whether we call it free cinema or
anything else because the aggres-
sive criticism and the positive
affirmation will be fused into a
new kind of cinema that will be
worth shouting about.

I hope Lindsay Anderson will go
on trying.

RALPH BOND.

{See also Sir Michael Balcon's
letter on page 91)

THE EDITORIAL SECTION

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June/July 1957

FILM & TV TECHNICIAN

General Council in Session

MONOPOLY IN THE INDUSTRY

A.C.T.T. is to suggest to the
F.I.E.C. that it considers prepara-
tion of a report for the Monopolies
Commission on monopoly in the
entertainment industry, as a result
of the emergency resolution unani-
mously passed at the annual
general meeting in March. This
was decided on at a special General
Council meeting on May 29th,
called to deal with outstanding
business.

Decisions on the other resolu-
tions were as follows :
REPRESENTATION OF TV
MEMBERS AT AGM's: The Rules
Revision Committee, together with
the three Executive members from
TV, should go thoroughly into the
problem, co-opting members where
required; they would study rules of
other Unions with similar prob-
lems, but would not necessarily be
expected to produce one solution —
if necessary, they could put for-
ward two or three methods of
reorganisation.

GOVERNMENT POLICY AND
FILM PRODUCTION: The Chan-
cellor of the Duchy of Lancaster
had received a deputation, led by
the General Secretary, on May 14th
and told them that the question of
Government expenditure on film
services, particularly overseas ser-
vices, had been reviewed and the
amount increased by f 80, 000; a
further review was in progress.
The deputation also stressed the
need for increased use of TV and
for a revival of the Crown and
Colonial film units, and the Chan-
cellor agreed to bear in mind all
that A.C.T.T. had said, when he
made his report to the Cabinet.
The Council agreed that the Films
Committees of both the Govern-
ment and Opposition be advised of
these talks with the Chancellor
and that they be asked to press the
matter at the appropriate time.

NATIONAL FILM CIRCUIT: The

Legislation Committee reported on
ways of publicising A.C.T.T.'s
general film policy, including
getting a prominent member to
help publicise it through the Press,
Radio, TV and with other Trade
Unions; the extension of Trades
Council affiliation would also give
added publicity, and a panel of
speakers was considered, to be

available to speak to Labour
Parties, Trades Councils, Co-opera-
tive organisations. Chambers of
Commerce, etc. The Council also
agreed to seek a further meeting
with the Parliamentary Labour-
Party Films Committee to review
the present position and discuss
further steps, as well as meeting
the Conservative Films Committee
on some points.

SPECIALISED FILM PRODUC-
TION: A number of points regard-
ing the growing unfair competition
in this field f film production from
companies not observing the
A.C.T.T. agreements had been
considered by the Eecutive, and it
was agreed that:

1. A copy of the resolution should be
sent to all Shop Stewards, asking
them to inform Head Office of any
cases which come to their notice.

2. The A.S.F.P. should be ap-
proached again with the idea of a
Trade Union label.

3. A Sub-Committee should be
formed to help an Organiser col-
lect new facts on the companies
not observing the agreements and
the films they made, in order to
provide solid evidence to take to
the A.S.F.P. The Sub-Committee
to take evidence from Laboratory
and TV members on the companies
they were doing work for.

It was also agreed that the Pro-
gramme Contractors and TV mem-
bers be kept fully informed of any
" blacked " work of this character.

100'r MEMBERSHIP AND RE-
COGNITION IN TV: When con-
sidering this resolution the Execu-
tive, after careful consideration,
agreed that the best policy at the
moment was to concentrate on
achieving an agreement with the
Television Programme Contractors,
after which the B.B.C. should be
tackled again.

KODACHROME PROCESSING:

Our members at Colour Film Ser-
vices were asked to prepare a case
for the inclusion of Kodachrome in
the Tripack agreement, and the
Shop's case for a higher rate was
endorsed by the Laboratory Com-
mittee; after discussion it was
agreed that the matter be pursued
locally at first, and that in the
meanwhile, the General Secretary
be asked to investigate the results
of litigation against Kodak in the
U.S.A. under the Anti-Trust Laws.

FORTY-HOUR WEEK: The terms
of this resolution were endorsed by
the Council, and it was agreed to
press the matter whenever nego-
tiating new agreements.

ALL - INDUSTRY PENSION
SCHEME: It was agreed to ask a
Sub-Committee to investigate not
only the existing pension schemes
in the industry, but also the wider
question of a National Pension
Scheme.

HONORARY MEMBERSHIP FOR
BILL SHARP: It was reported at
the June meeting of the General
Council that this long-standing
member of A.C.T.T. had retired on
pension from A.B. Pathe, and, in
recognition of his long and sterling
service to A.C.T.T., it was agreed
that a small party be held in his
honour, at which he be presented
with a cheque and a scroll of
Honorary Membership.

BRITISH COMMONWEALTH

INTERNATIONAL NEWS FILM

AGENCY LTD.: Mr. K. N. Dick,
Managing Editor of the Agency,
in an interview with Bert Craik,
said that a number of A.C.T.T.
members employed in the Cutting

(Continued on page 94)

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FINchley 1595

FILM & TV TECHNICIAN

June/July 1957

Department for Paramount News
had been transferred to the Agency
pay-roll and would be paid under
the terms of the Newsreel Agree-
ment. The Company was set up
to supply a world-wide News Film
service, available to anyone in-
terested. Processing would be
done at the Rank Laboratory,
Acton. The organisation was still
in its development stage, and if it
prospered as anticipated, the
Agency had in mind offering a
seven-day service round the clock
which might necessitate shift work
in the Cutting Rooms. The Coun-
cil agreed that the TV Producer/
Directors' Section and all TV Shop
Stewards be advised to watch for
any material coming from this
agency and let Head Office know
if the material is going to a TV
Company. Also, Head Office should
advise the Agency that at this
stage we are not prepared to com-
mit ourselves to agreeing that all
work of this nature would neces-
sarily come under the terms of the
Newsreel Agreement.

TELEVISION: Since the last re-
port Paddy Leech had spent a
week-end in Manchester at the

A. B.C. Television Studios. A large
number of individual cases are
being taken up, and our member-
ship here is growing stronger in
numbers and more conscious of
what can be won by Union action.
In A.R.T.V. an individual claim
on behalf of a Production Assis-
tant has been won. Union repre-
sentations have also resulted in
two more redundant Control
Operators being re-engaged. The
Executive Committee agreed that
the General Secretary should write
to the T.V.P.C.A. to the effect that,
unless the Agreement is signed and
operating by July 1st, strong
action will be taken to obtain a
settlement.

BANK SCREEN SERVICES —
APPRENTICES: Our members at
this unit ask the Executive to
open up negotiation < with the
Management with regard to
apprenticeship. They are not satis-
fied that their scheme is working
satisfactorily. One meeting with
the A.S.F.P. was held but the
problem is still unresolved. The
Executive instructed the Organiser
to press for a meeting with the
management.

" A King in New York "

Charlie Chaplin's still camera-
man on A King in New York, a
picture from which appeared on
our cover last month, was Eric
Gray.

FILM PRODUCERS GUILD LTD.
require Writers and Directors for
Documentary and Entertainment
Films. Write stating experience to
A. T. Burlinson, Guild House,
Upper St. Martin's Lane, W.C.2.

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1957

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June/July 1957

FILM & TV TECHNICIAN

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GEVAERT LIMITED Mot/on Picture Department
GREAT WEST ROAD - BRENTFORD • MIDDLESEX

EALing 3488

FILM & TV TECHNICIAN

June July 1957

ILFORD
FP3

UNITED ARTISTS present

BRIAN DONLEVY

"QUATERMASS II

with

JOHN LONGDEN ■ SIDNEY JAMES

BRYAN FORBES ■ WILLIAM FRANKLYN

and

VERA DAY

Original story by Nigel Kneale

Screenplay by Nigel Kneale and Val Guest

Produced by Anthony Hinds : Directed by Val Guest

A Hammer Production

Executive Producer — Michael Carreras

Director of Photography — Gerald Gibbs

35mm cine negative film

ILFORD LIMITED, Cine Sales Department, 104 High Holborn, London, W.C.\. Telephone: HOLborn 3401

Published by the Proprietors, The Association of Cinematograph, Television and allied Technicians, 2 Soho
Square, London, and Printed by Watford Printers Limited. Watford. Herts.

OCTOBER

1957

Association of Cinematograph, Television and allied Technicians
Vol. 23 No. 153 PRICE 6d.

F I LM and TV

BRITISH FILMS FOR BRITAIN

TUC REPORT

Anthony Asquith directing
" Orders to Kill "

[Still by John Jay]

130

FILM & TV TECHNICIAN

October 1957

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GREAT WEST ROAD BRENTFORD MIDDLESEX • EALing 3488

October 1957

FILM & TV TECHNICIAN

H* Museum of Modw* ^
UltAU

EDITORIAL

DOES THE BOARD OF TRADE
WANT BRITISH FILMS?

DOES the Board of Trade want a healthy
British film industry, or could it not care
less? Is it, in fact, aware, even now that the
making of films is one of the country's essential,
repeat essential, industries?

The answer, of course, should be an unquali-
fied ' yes ', but recent happenings in connection
with British production facilities make one pause
and wonder.

A.C.T.T. members will recall that in the spring
of last year the six Trade Unions concerned with
film production were asked for their views on the
measures necessary to help the industry. Among
the many points covered in the Unions' reply
was the question of shortage of studio space.
We pointed out that the studio facilities then
existing were far from adequate while the
demand for studio space would undoubtedly
increase.

Our advice on this point went unheeded at
the time.

A month ago, A.C.T. Films, faced with the
problem of finding studio space for a forth-
coming production, raised the matter with the
President of the Board of Trade.

" I have been instructed by my directors," the
General Manager of A.C.T. Films wrote, " to
draw your attention to the very serious situation
that has now arisen concerning the availability
of adequate studio space for the production of
British films. This situation is particularly grave
for the smaller independent producers such as
ourselves, and we believe that we are not the
only company of this type to be experiencing
this problem at the present moment.

" Several months ago we drew the attention
of various authorities to our fears that such a
situation would eventuate, but we were informed
that there was no reason to suppose that a studio
shortage of any serious proportions would arise.

" We believe that the current situation is
partly caused by the closing down, for structural
reasons, of a number of stages at Shepperton
Studios. This has meant that several produc-
tions which were to go into Shepperton have had
to be accommodated elsewhere, with the result
that accommodation that might normally have
been available to companies such as ourselves has
now been booked.

" This shortage is also tending, we believe, to-
wards an increase in studio rentals and this
again will present an additional burden to the
producers of modest budget films.

" We would beg to suggest that the whole
matter should be reviewed by your Department
or the Cinematograph Films Council or some
other appropriate body as a matter of urgency."

We understand that the Board of Trade, in its
reply to this approach, took its stand on a state-
ment made by the President of the Board of
Trade in February 1955 in which he said: "I
must make it plain that I have no responsibility
for the erection or sale of individual film studios.
The Government's policy for the film industry is
carried out on a much broader basis." The view
of the Board of Trade is, apparently, that a
review of studio space would not serve any useful
purpose.

No useful purpose ? Is the encouragement of
the smaller independent producers to make
British films for showing not only to Britain but
to the world a " useful purpose " or is it not?

Is the Government aware, too, that there is a
growing tendency to use film for the making of
Television programmes ? It is already clear that
American Television producers are turning in-
creasingly to film because in this way they can
sell a television programme not once but several
times. In Britain we shall be faced with the
alternatives of doing the same or seeing our tele-
vision screens become more and more Ameri-
canised while British TV programmes are scarcely
seen abroad at all. Is encouraging British
television a useful purpose or is it not? The
Board of Trade must think again — and think
quickly.

FILM & TV TECHNICIAN

Editor:
MARTIN CHISHOLM

Editorial Office:

% Soho Square, W.l

Telephone: GERrard 8506

Advertisement Office:

5 and 6 Red Lion Square, W.C.I

Telephone: HOLborn 4972

132

FILM & TV TECHNICIAN

October 1957

BRITISH FILMS FOR
BRITAIN

The article printed below was contributed by GEORGE ELVIN to the
fiftieth anniversary edition of the KINEM ATOGRAPH WEEKLY, to

whose Editor we are indebted for permission to reproduce it here

ANE of these days we shall pre-
" sumably reach agreement on
the overall case for the production
and exhibition of British films and
how to fulfil it, but ever since my
association with the industry a
handful of people and a still
smaller number of organisations
have been battling against all
comers — including those sup-
posedly favouring British film pro-
duction — either to stop the indus-
try dying or at least to permit it
to continue just ticking over.

In no other industry (and mak-
ing films is as much an industry
as most other pursuits) would
home producers continue to
tolerate a position whereby they
are very much the junior partner
to imported product. Yet I have
seldom known British producers,
distributors or exhibitors collec-
tively advocate policies which
would lead to a substantial in-
crease in British production. On
the whole they have generally pur-
sued lines to foster the hold of
foreign product on British screens.

Cockeyed

The same thing can be said for
hybrid bodies such as the Cine-
matograph Films Council which
are charged by Act of Parliament
to protect the wellbeing of British
film production and yet appear to
spend a lot of their time taking
action which to my view has a
contrary effect.

They have never once, as far as
I can remember, agitated for in-
creased quota. They did nothing,
despite being urged to do so by
the trade unions, to force the
government to halt the scandal of
the shortage of studio space.

Where can an independent pro-
ducer find space today and what
chance have we got to hold our
own, let alone progress, with
Denham and a dozen or so other
studios remaining unavailable.

Recent tendencies are making
matters even more cockeyed. We
have now reached the stage where
theoretically, at least, British

quota can be fulfilled without a
single film being made in the
United Kingdom.

Indeed, but for the doggedness
of the trade unions, and particu-
larly their determination not to
countenance British films being
made other than under the terms
of their agreements with the em-
ployers, we could have been flooded
with films made in the Common-
wealth and in Colonial territories,
and employing a substantial pro-
portion of foreigners supplemented
by a modicum of local labour and
yet still ranking for United King-
dom quota although using neither
our studios nor staff.

Naturally I am all in favour of
the development of film industries
in the Commonwealth and
Colonies, but not at our expense.

Kite-flying

Recent kite-flyings are even
more startling. We had John
Davis's speech at the 1957 CEA
Conference at Gleneagles which
advocated a get-together with
some of the Continental countries.
I am all for the entente cordiale,
provided it is to the common bene-
fit of all parties and at the expense
of other imported films. But
rumour has it that there is a
school of thought in both France
and Great Britain advocating the
possibility of altering our own
British quota to a combined Anglo-
French quota, so that French films
can be shown over here as if they
were British.

Kuropean common markets are
all very well if they are really
common markets and in fact,
build up a genuine free trade area.
But the whole purpose is nullified
if that free trade area merely
whittles down the small degree of
protection at present reserved by
the British government for wholly
British product.

Fancy the British public going
to the cinema and seeing a British
quota film, not a word of which it
can understand unless it is dubbed
or sub-titled!

So as a slogan for Kine.'s next
50 years I commend: "British
films for Britain — and more of
them."

But these days it is pointless for
the entertainment industry to talk
merely in terms of cinematograph
films. There is on the one hand
wholesale condemnation of tele-
vision by the film industry and
yet, on the other, film interests are
quite properly carving their own
niche in this new medium.

Now the Rank Organisation has
joined ABC and Granada in the
television field. Yet presumably
our film industry will continue to
breathe words of fire against tele-
vision when it is not too busy
pretending it doesn't exist at all.

One of the best safeguards our
industry has had with reference to
the impact of television is the fore-
sight of the film trade unions who
have always looked upon it as a
legitimate field of organisation.
Not only, therefore, are the film
trade unions numerically strong in
that field, but they have also for
that very reason helped to mould
its policy along the right lines.

TV Agreement

To mention the obvious example,
the trade unions have now reached
agreement with the programme
contractors, albeit not without
some struggle, which will prevent
television production being in
cheap competition with films in the
labour sense.

It is about time other film in-
terests took an equally realistic
attitude and thought out and
sought out policies which will en-
able films and television to de-
velop as complementary partners
in the entertainment industry.

Let us hope that when our
grandchildren are asked to write
articles for the centenary year of
Kink, or Kine. and Television
Weekly as it will doubtless by
then be known- the first fifty
years can be dismissed as the
nightmare which they have largely
been.

On the other hand, let us hope
that the 50 years about to begin
will be a period in which we have
all learned from the mistakes of
the past and will record the pro-
gress of an industry serving the
public in the twin fields of cinema
and television providing an in-
creasing number of British pro-
grammes until we can hold our
own with ease with the rest of
the world.

Above all, in doing this we can
provide a service to the British
public which only a British in-
dustry, because it is British in all
meanings of the word, can fulfil.

October 1957

FILM & TV TECHNICIAN

133

A LTHOUGH this year's T.U.C.
-^was in the main quiet and
non-controversial, many policy re-
solutions of great importance to
the Trade Union Movement were
agreed and the fact that most of
them were passed unanimously or
with large majorities, and without
the necessity of a single card vote,
enhances their importance.

Both the resolutions submitted
by A.C.T.T. were well received and
carried unanimously.

Ralph Bond moved our resolu-
tion on the H-Bomb and as five
other trade unions had submitted
similar resolutions we all got to-
gether and agreed to a composite.
The main point of the resolution
was to demand that H.M. Govern-
ment propose to the U.S.A. and the
Soviet Union an immediate and
unconditional suspension of all
nuclear tests as a first step to-
wards the banning of these
weapons.

Public Demonstration Urged

In concluding his speech Ralph
Bond suggested that the General
Council of Congress should pre-
sent the resolution to the Prime
Minister, backed up by an officially
called public demonstration in
which the members of every
affiliated Trade Union would be
called upon to participate.

This suggestion was greatly
applauded and our own General
Council might consider following
it up with a letter to the Secretary
of the T.U.C.

George Elvin moved our second
resolution on restrictions and
monopoly of the Press, which in-
structed the General Council of
Congress to take all appropriate
action to halt all monopolistic
tendencies in the field of publica-
tion and reiterated the necessity of
the Trade Union and Labour
movement retaining policy control
over its own daily newspaper.

Another resolution of a similar
character had been withdrawn so
we had a clear field on this issue.

It is impossible to mention all
the resolutions considered by Con-
gress, but we give below a sum-
mary of the more important de-
cisions.

On wages and economic policy
a composite resolution moved by
the Transport and General
Workers' Union and supported by
six other unions was unanimously
carried. It denounced the Tory
Government's refusal to direct the
country's economic and social
policies, rejected wage restriction
in any form and reaffirmed deter-
mination, while prices and profits

The General Secretary and Ralph Bond report
on the

BLACKPOOL T.U.C.

remain uncontrolled, to take such
steps industrially to ensure that
wages keep pace with rising costs.
It also called on all trade unionists
to work for the early return of a
Labour Government.

Congress wholeheartedly de-
nounced the new Rents Act and
called upon the next Labour
Government to repeal it.

It carried with enthusiasm a
resolution demanding an im-
mediate and substantial increase
in Old Age Pensions, reaffirming
its belief that all workers are
entitled on retirement to a mini-
mum pension sufficient at least to
provide the necessities of life and
ensure a reasonable measure of
comfort.

On the Health Service it de-
manded an end to all charges on
prescriptions and the removal of
restrictions on spending in hos-
pitals.

On the question of public owner-
ship a resolution was carried in-
structing the General Council to
work out a policy for social owner-
ship and to consult with the
Labour Party.

A resolution calling for public
ownership of the Machine Tool
industry was carried.

European Common Market

Although there was no resolu-
tion dealing with the proposed
European Common Market the
General Council made it clear that
in its opinion this country would
fare worse if it kept outside the
free trade area than if it went in.
At the same time the General
Council would require firm assur-
ances from the Government con-
cerning the maintenance of full
employment, etc., although some
speakers pointed out that such
assurances even if given were no
sure guarantee. Congress was
obviously divided on this question
and no vote was taken.

A special report on the position
of the " Daily Herald " was given
in private session and members
will now be aware of the new
arrangement that has been made
whereby the " Daily Herald " has
greater freedom of action although
undertaking to continue to support

the general policy of the Trade
Union and the Labour movement.

Coming back again to inter-
national affairs, two other resolu-
tions in addition to our own were
carried. The first demanded that
China should be admitted to the
United Nations, and the second
called for the establishment of a
United Germany to be achieved by
the withdrawal of all foreign
troops from Europe and the estab-
lishment of a system of collective
security involving all European
countries and including the U.S.A.
and the U.S.S.R.

International Solidarity Fund

A special report was also given
on the proposal of the Inter-
national Confederation of Free
Trade Unions to create an inter-
national solidarity fund and the
General Council of the T.U.C. has
set as its target the raising of
£500,000 during the next three
years. It proposes to raise this
not by asking for donations from
the central funds of the affiliated
Trade Unions, but by each Trade
Union urging its members to con-
tribute individually 6d. a year over
the next three years. It is not a
statutory levy but Congress ob-
viously felt that such a fund
should be raised, although one or
two delegates were a little dubious
of some of the purposes for which
it is to be used. Our own General
Council is required to consider this
matter.

In the elections for the new
General Council, George Elvin
received 1,229,000 votes, but Tom
O'Brien was again elected for our
Section.

Your delegates were also able to
perform useful service for A.C.T.T.
outside the Congress as, for ex-
ample, in getting the immediate
support of N.A.T.K.E. and the
E.T.U. for a telegram of protest to
the National Federation of Profes-
sional Workers who we understand
were sympathetically considering
the admission of the Association
of Broadcasting Staffs. We made
it clear that if the A.B.S. was
accepted for the affiliation,
N.A.T.K.E. and ourselves would
withdraw.

134

Organisers' Page

FILM & TV TECHNICIAN

October 1957

TELL US WHEN YOU GET

A JOB

I AST month I referred to the
J failure of members who obtain
employment to notify Head Office.
I do not apologise for quoting the
following instance which occurred
during Bunny Garner's absence on
holiday. I had been trying to
satisfy a studio's request for staff
and the conversation was roughly
as follows: "These are available
Miss A, Miss B, and Miss X ".
There was a burst of laughter
from the studio end of the 'phone.
" Miss X has been working here
for the past three months ". My
face was slightly pink. It does
emphasise the point I have made
previously, that our members, on
commencing work, should advise
us.

Congratulations to Vivian
Temple-Smith, A.C.T.T. Shop
Steward at Pinewood, on his elec-
tion as Chairman of the Joint
Works Committee. This is I be-
lieve the first occasion at Pine-
wood when an A.C.T.T. member
has been so honoured. It is a
fitting tribute to the sterling work
put in by Vivian in the compara-
tively short time that he has been
our Steward there.

Friends will be pleased to hear
that Peter G. Nash has had a very
successful six months as a lighting
cameraman in the Pagewood
Studios, Sydney, Australia. He
has now gone to New Zealand to
work with the New Zealand Film
Unit.

Logic

An enquiry recently into absen-
teeism (not, I hasten to add, in
A.C.T.T. grades, or in fact in the
film industry at all) asked a
worker concerned this question,
" Why do you only work three
days per week ? " The reply was
" I have discovered it takes that
much to keep me."

Hush Telegraph

In all industries the bush tele-
graph is a well used and respected
institution, and in films it acts with
great speed. A meeting had been
held at one studio to discuss a
location, details had been dis-
cussed and after E.C. approval the

same evening the company were
advised. The first thing the next
morning was an enquiry from
another studio which gave details
of what they had heard had hap-
pened. For once the bush tele-
graph was too quick. But it does
keep you on your toes!

Many locations are at present
operating, and cover great dis-
tances. One small but undoubtedly

FRED TONGE

pleasant one is on the " Queen
Elizabeth " to New York and back,
others are on the Jungfrau in
Switzerland, in Dublin, and on the
Virgin Islands; others range from
the Tyrol to Brighton.

A meeting was held recently of
a location which was proceeding
abroad to elect Unit Steward and
settle one or two minor details.
This was settled and I felt that all
was well. A day or two later I
met an officer of one of the other
unions concerned. It seems that
some of his members had signed
individual contracts and were as
a result very much worse off than
their colleagues in the other two
unions.

Individual contracts may look
very nice on paper but on more
careful scrutiny they may well
show that the worker is going to
be the loser. In this particular
case no A.C.T.T. personnel were
involved, but it should warn our
members that the normal con-
ditions laid down are in their best
interests. In the few grades where
individual contracts are specifi-
cally mentioned in A.C.T.T. agree-
ments experience has shown our
members what to look for, and it
is well known that these members
have their contracts "vetted" from
time to time.

Freddy Ford

Bunny Garner has passed on to
me a letter from Freddy Ford who

is working in Canada as Director of
Photography in Regal Films,
Toronto, which I think members
will like to read. He writes:

Many thanks for placing me on
the list for the above situation.
I am delighted at being here to
photograph the first black and
white CinemaScope feature being
produced in this country by a
Canadian company.

I never thought I should have
an opportunity of shooting a
modern cowboy story.

I have a complete crew:
Operator Jackson Samuels (Cana-
dian), 1st Assistant Manny Alpert
(American), 2nd Assistant Don
McMillon (Canadian), 3rd Assis-
tant Ted Winters (Canadian),
Clappers Loader Denny Murphy
(Canadian) and two Grips
(Canadian).

Just returned from our first
week's shooting on location,
" Owen's Sound," Georgian Bay.
Real cowboys, ranches, horses,
cattle and gun-running bandits, in-
cluding the old sheriff in this film.
The cast, actors from Hollywood,
Alison Hayes, Jim Davis, John
Hart (of The Last of the Mohicans
fame), Tony Brown (The Boy and
His Dog), Austin Willis and many
other featured players. Saw some
of the rushes on Saturday.
Apparently the Director, Sam
Newfield, is delighted with the
photographic quality. The boss,
Mr. S. Newfeld, had a representa-
tive from 20th, Hollywood, visit
the studio to view our efforts, he
sent me congratulatory messages.
The star, Alison Hayes, has re-
ceived another contract from the
company because of her good
looks and performance, she also
thanked me for my efforts on her
behalf. So, you see, we are making
pretty good headway over here.

It's a great country, food ex-
cellent, hospitality outstanding,
and generous people who are will-
ing to accept knowledge from per-
sons who arrive here with ex-
perience and willing to teach them
the up-to-date methods of our

K 'ontinued on page 142)

October 1957

FILM & TV TECHNICIAN

135

Sir Alexander Korda

I am writing a biography of the
late Sir Alexanda Korda. Though
his life and work are fully docu-
mented by printed material, I
would be extremely grateful to
receive any record of personal ex-
periences from people in the film
industry who have worked with
him or had personal contact with
him.

All material will be acknow-
ledged and due credit will be given,
if so desired, to those supplying it.

Yours sincerely,
Paul Tabori,

14 Stafford Terrace,

London, W.8

Obituaries

CHARLES SELL

We very much regret to announce
the death of Charles Sell, Adver-
tisement Manager of Film and TV
Technician.

Charles Sell, senior partner of
Charles Sell and Co., had for many
years been associated with the
trade union movement as an ad-
vertising expert. After getting a
thorough grounding in advertising
he joined the staff of the Police
Review Publishing Co. Ltd. before
the first World War. He started
his own advertising agency in
1919. In 1930 he became Adver-
tising Manager and then Director
of the Police Review.

LOUIS LEVY

We also announce with regret
the death, just as we were going
to press, of Louis Levy who,
although primarily a musician, was
for many years a very popular
member of A.C.T.T. as associate
producer. We hope to publish a
fuller obituary notice next month.

We Thought Too

Big

In our report of the agreement
on Foreign Technicians last month
we referred to " extra permits
where required in respect of each
film exceeding £3,000,000 budget
cost." Of course, we like to think
big, all film technicians do, but in
this case we thought a little too
big. The figure should, of course,
have been £300,000.

THE RANK
LABORATORIES

" As any producer would readily
agree, the finest production com-
pany in the world would only be
wasting its talents if it had not
the benefit of skilful and intelli-
gent co-operation from the pro-
cessing laboratories."

These thirty-four words sum up
as concisely as possible the part
played by the laboratories in the
film industry. They are taken from
"The Rank Laboratories (Denham)
Ltd ", a sumptuous publication de-
signed to give their customers an
insight into the work of the
Denham and Olympic laboratories.

Some idea of the scope of these
laboratories can be gained from

A Technician" s
Notebook

A. E. Jeakins, who write's
'A Technician's Notebook',
is at present away on loca-
tion. We shall resume this
feature on his return later
in the autumn

the fact that they can handle for
processing over 5,500,000 feet of
film weekly or, as the Rank
brochure points out, the equivalent
of over 650 full-length feature
prints. On top of that they pro-
cess each week more than half a
million feet of film for pictures in
production and also many hun-
dreds of prints of short films and
two twice-weekly newsreels.

First-class Staff

" Services on such a scale ", the
brochure says, " would clearly be
impossible without first-class
laboratory staff — and in this we
can claim to be second to no other
similar organisation in the world.
Working for us we have over eight
hundred experienced and highly-
skilled people. Well up in the
forefront of all the latest technical
developments, ever-ready to tackle
any unusual and unexpected prob-
lems that may arise, they are none
the less ready to apply their skill
and ' know-how ' to their ordinary
day-to-day work."

It is good to see this tribute to
the work and skill of A.C.T.T.
members in both laboratories.

After outlining the various
types of film processing jobs done
at the laboratories the brochure,
with illustrations and diagrams,
tells the story of " How colour
gets on to film ", starting from
the moment when the colour nega-
tive film is exposed in the camera,
a story which will perhaps come
as something of an exciting shock
to technicians working in some
other sections of the industry.

Book Review

LEROTISME AU CINEMA, by
Lo Duea (distributed in Britain by
The Rodney Book Service, 9-11
Monmouth Street, London, W.C.2).

The commercial side of the
entertainment business is so taken
up with the quest for filthy lucre
— and sometimes the filthier the
more lucrative — that it is espe-
cially refreshing to find a film
trade paper attack " the ever-so-
saucy-sexy-Frenchy exploiteers

who trade on the British public's
ignorance of their neighbours
across the Channel."

So wrote Bernard Charlesworth,
in an important recent article in
the Daily Film Renter, on the
irresponsible get-rich-quick pro-
ducers of " strip-tease exploitation
specials ", which he believes have
done so much harm to the French
industry. But the author of
L'Erotisme au Cinema adopts
an intellectual approach to smut —
which to me smells of hypocrisy —
and perhaps this is emphasised for
British readers by having the text
in French.

Not many pictures in M. Lo
Duca's book are from English
films, but pride of place is given
on the frontispiece to one from
that boring experimental film,
The Pleasure Garden, which I
seem to recall one critic as saying
consisted of the dancing of fairies
of both sexes. Ugh!

This French book could well stay
on the other side of the Channel.

Christopher Brunei.

136

FILM & TV TECHNICIAN

October 1957

WE LOST THE KEY"

" W^ITH the introduction of
" speech into motion pictures
we lost the key to people's under-
standing of each other."

That thought-provoking state-
ment is the considered view of
Lilian Gish, veteran stage, screen
and television actress, who has
just completed work at Shepper-
ton on Anthony Asquith's Orders
to Kill.

This does not mean that she is
not happy in a speaking role. Far
from it. " I have never had ten
happier days anywhere in the
world," she told me, " than work-
ing with Anthony Asquith on this
picture. The whole time there

says a thing like that. She is
quiet, relaxed and speaks thought-
fully and very modestly about a
medium to which she is utterly

LILIAN GISH

in an interview with

Martin Chisholm

devoted. There is not the slightest
doubt about that. Take this

LA STRADA

was a sense of working with a
group of artists and technicians
who, each and all, were dedicated
to just one thing, getting it right.

" There was one sequence in
which I was very troubled by
doubts. I felt that perhaps I had
not been able to convey what was
in the director's mind, and, for the
first time in my life I felt that
I could not face seeing my
rushes."

There is nothing intense in
Lilian Gish's manner when she

question of speech on the screen,
for instance.

" What we see," she said, " is so
much more important than what
we hear. It makes so much
greater impact on us. We who
work in motion pictures should
never for one moment forget that
the quickest way to the brain is
through the eye."

Does this mean that even today,
with all the available richness of
new sound techniques, there is
scope for a revival of silent films ?

I put that question to Miss Gish.
" I think ", she replied, " that
what we should aim at is not,
perhaps, silent films, but films in
which instead of dialogue we
marry music to vision. And when
I say ' music ' I certainly do not

LILIAN GISH BETWEEN SHOTS
AT SHEFPEBTON

[Still by John Jay]

exclude the music of words. The
words of Shakespeare, for in-
stance, are music in themselves,
and has a finer film been made
than Henry the Fifth?

" You may smile at what I am
going to say, but I'd like to tell
you this. In the old silent days
we felt that we were working in
a medium that the Bible had pre-
dicted, a medium which had the
possibility of growing into a uni-
versal language which could make
all men brothers. Yes, we really
felt that, and we felt that this
medium was so much greater, so
much more important, than any
of us. We worked with that idea
constantly in our minds. The
medium had power and we felt
our responsibility in its use
deeply."

Lilian Gish thought for a
moment, and then she added: "I
think that too many men have lost
that sense of responsibility to the
medium. We had better get back
to it if we don't like the state of
the world as it is today."

October 1957

FILM & TV TECHNICIAN

137

The very lack of words was the
most important factor in building
up audience participation. The
audience had to draw on its
imagination to supply the speech
and it was much more moved in
consequence. " People remember
me today from the silent films ",
she said, " but they don't remem-
ber because it is me. They re-
member because they had to
supply in their own minds, and
with their own feelings, the works
of the human beings I portrayed."

Suicide

Turning her mind back to the
'twenties, Miss Gish recalled that
D. W. Griffith, after a number of
great silent films, made his first
talkie in 1921, a picture called
Dream Street. Then he discarded
talkies. " Talking films are
suicide ", he said. " With talkies
we can only play to the English-
speaking world."

I think that some such thought
is in Lilian Gish's mind now when
she speaks of what film, properly
used, can do. "As things are we
have lost a world audience," she
said. " Translations of speech
dubbed as captions over vision are
not good theatre, not good film
and not good art. . . . But pictures

Above: " The Red
Balloon ". Below:
D.W.Griffiths' great
spectacular picture
" Intolerance ".

like La Strada, M. Hulot's Holiday
and, I am told, though I have not
seen it yet, The Red Balloon, in
which words are subordinate to
married sound and vision, can go
out and speak to the world. Japan
has lovely things to send us, too.
Why should not every country
send out its own particular
beauty to the rest of the world,
so that we can participate in its
poetry of sound and movement."

More Difficult Task

When Miss Gish speaks of
' songs ' she is not speaking of
music in the dictionary sense but
what she calls ' the music of
understanding '. She is the very
first to admit that creating these
' songs ' is a more difficult task
than the making of dialogue films
because, when the audience has to
supply its own thoughts and
words and feelings the film maker

(Continued on page 138)

\:\s

FILM & TV TECHNICIAN

October 1957

Lilian Gish

(Continued)

has to give it a great deal more
to work on.

Another difficulty is the short-
age of writers capable of working
in this way, but here, she sees
great hope in television. Tele-
vision, in her view, in the United
States, has developed far more
writing talent than films have
done. Twelve Angry Men, No
Time for Sergeants, Marty and
The Young Stranger have all come
from TV writers and directors, she
pointed out.

" In what other medium than
television can you write some-
thing, see it next month, learn
from it and then sit down to write
again? There is no other medium
in which the young playwright can
learn so much so fast."

Epic Without Script

The problem of writers turned
Miss Gish's mind back to the early
pictures of D. W. Griffith and she
reminded me of something that
will perhaps come as a shock to
many younger film technicians.
When he made the greatest spec-
tacular film of all time, Intolerance,
a twelve-reel picture taking in, in
one great sweep, the fall of
Babylon, the Crucifixion, the
massacre of St. Bartholomew, and
a modern story of capital and
labour, Griffith had no script at
all.

He did his own research, con-
ceived his story and the linking
sequences, shot mile on mile of
film. The only writing that was
done was by the cutter who
watched the last rehearsal and
took down the sequence of events.
Until then there was nothing on
paper. He held the whole thing
in his head. " That ", said Lilian
Gish, " was the measure of the

We Need Writers

That does not mean that the
cinema can do without writers
today. Very far from it.

" The cinema needs writers,"
Miss Gish said. " We have in-
vented wonderful machines and we
;uc not able to live up to them.
We need writers who are prepared
to stand up and say what they
believe in and, it necessary, to
take the count for their beliefs.
The world respects a man who
believes something deeply. We

Talking Points

IET us think big. Not for its
-J own sake, but because our place
in the entertainment industry de-
mands it. These grandiose thoughts
are forced on me by some industry
developments, particularly in the
Rank Organisation.

This large monopoly has never
believed in putting all its eggs in
one basket. If it can make money
from television, from radio sets or
snap-shot cameras, it will. But,
basically, it still must sell tickets
at the cinema box-office, which is
quite a problem these days. With
other entertainments vieing for the
smaller amount of spare cash one
has these days, new methods are
being tried to attract regular cus-
tom.

The method, which is also being
tried in the U.S.A., is to build up
a sort of community centre around
the cinema — a place where, as a
change from watching TV at home,
you can get entertainment to suit
a variety of tastes and moods.

You want some of the world's
finest ballet? Well, as an experi-
ment Paul Czinner's film of the
Bolshoi Ballet, featuring the won-
derful Ulanova, is being exhibited
in selected Rank theatres.

Want to Dance?

You want to learn to dance well?
For a small fee you can go to one
of the Victor Silvester dance
studios attached to a number of
Gaumonts and Odeons. Strict tempo
music will be played from record-
ings (Musicians' Union, please
note) while you are given expert
tuition in the art of ballroom
dancing. A significant point in the
colour advertising trailer, now be-
ing shown, is that the appeal is to
both young and old. This will mean
that a growing number of people
will get the habit of going in the
direction of a Rank cinema, and
this will help build up a film audi-
ence of all ages and of all intellec-
tual levels.

need men of conviction. We have
been making ' The Cowboy and the
Ladies ' since 1906. It is time that
somebody got up and said some-
thing new, or some old truth in a
new way. We need it said beauti-
fully and said with courage."

To provide the pictures for these
cinemas of the (not so distant)
future, our producers will have to
think big too, as there is a great
shortage of good, attractive big
productions to hold the audiences.
But, in order to get them into pro-
duction, big money has to be
raised. This has been one of the
major problems facing our Holly-
wood competitors.

The American producers have
been glad to sell their old pictures
to TV in order to finance their new,
giant-sized productions, and film-
makers over here are looking
around for similar sources of cash.
Anyone got a few thousand to
spare?

" Depth Men "

I am indebted to Leslie Adrian,
writing in The Spectator, for in-
troducing me to Motivational Re-
search, for it seems that M.R. is
likely to be most important for
those making TV commercials.

The folk in M.R. are called
Depth Men (a new grade for the
TV Agreement, perhaps?), because
they use psychological probings to
find out the reasons why one buys
certain goods and not others. You
have probably guessed from this
jargon that the whole thing
originates in the United States.

This is the way the scheme is
said to work: associate some novel
feature with what you are selling,
publicise the novelty, and you're
rich.

For instance, the size of the car
that people will buy appears to
be the all-important feature. For-
get whether they will ever find
enough parking space, think big
and make the cars long and low,
and with a little bit of skilful pub-
licity they are sold. Not only the
size, but the smell and noise the
car makes are said by the Depth
Men to be important as prestige
symbols.

The sound made in slamming the
doors is especially valuable to
sales. " We've got the finest door
slam this year we've ever had ",
Chevrolet boast about their 1957
models, " a big car sound . . ."
That wonderful sound effect the
BBC has of a breaking glass shop
window tempts me to suggest that
it would be most useful in TV com-
mercials. " Yes," says the com-
mentator (commentators always

October 1957

FILM & TV TECHNICIAN

i:«)

seem to start sentences with
"Yes"), "when you smash up
our new 1957 model you, too, will
make the big car crash."

Leslie Adrian is careful to add
that we stolid British may not be
affected in quite the same way as
the Americans. Just the same, he
adds that we may not be able to
avoid this impact of the motiva-
tional advertising man, as leading
U.S. firms are now spending an
estimated twelve million dollars a
year on M.R. Among them, he
says, are companies like Goodyear,
General Motors and Lever
Brothers, who have associates
here. " It obviously gets results,"
he ends, " and it is certainly going
to arrive over here before long."

There is quite a lot that the
M.R. characters can achieve, but
they should not kid themselves
that the human mind is just putty
in their talented hands. Most
people have a healthy streak of
independence in their mental
make-up — and that helps them to
reject a lot of spurious propa-
ganda. Besides, there are other
good qualities in life apart from
prestige.

'Cadmus'

ABC TELEVISION

On August 21st there was a
large-scale meeting of the ABC
Drama Department which, under
Dennis Vance, is now one of the
largest and most active depart-
ments in commercial television. In
addition to a weekly output which
consists of an hour's mystery play,
a ninety minute Armchair Theatre
and a half-hour serial, ABC are
also setting up their own film unit
to produce a series of half-hour
films for transmission here and
also for sale to U.S. markets.

Dennis Vance complimented the
unit on the year's work and men-
tioned that the viewing figures
throughout had been agreeably
high, very frequently topping large
scale light entertainment and
variety programmes. He also ex-
pressed the pleasure of the man-
agement at the signing of the
agreement with the A.C.T.T. and
looked forward to a bright future
for all concerned.

A new departure is the creation

of an experimental evening when
new ideas will be tried out on
closed circuit from the Manchester
studio.

Personnel at the moment work-
ing for ABC Drama include —
Directors : George More O'Farrel
(whose experience in Television
stems from early Alexandra Palace
days in 1936), Stuart Latham, John
Burton, John Knight, Wilfred
Eades, Philip Dale, Guy Verney
and Vivian Milroy; Studio Man-
agers : Richard Hayward, Bill
Daw, Pat Kennedy, Anthony Fin-
negan, Chris La Fontaine and Don
Gollan; P.A.s: Esther Frost, Janice
Willet (shortly moving to adver-
tising magazines as a director),
Bernice Dorskind, Verity Lambert,
Mavis Lock and Judith Dent. Cast-
ing Director is Dodo Watts (for-
merly with ATV and 20th Century
Fox), and the Script Department is
under Mae Murray.

VIVIAN MILROY.

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1 III

FILM & TV TECHNICIAN

October 1957

The General Council in Session

PEARL & DEAN: Bessie Bond
reported that members at Pearl &
Dean, Acton, were being threat-
ened with dismissal if they refused
to work overtime, and it was also
reported that they were not get-
ting the Cost of Living Bonus
under the A.S.F.P. Agreement.
The Organiser told them that
overtime was voluntary and that
this should be made clear to the
management, and the members
unanimously agreed that the Shop
Steward and Deputy should take
these two points up with the com-
pany.

At the Dover Street branch of
the company an excellent meeting
had been held to set up proper
A.C.T.T. organisation, when a
Shop Steward and Committee were
elected. A dispute had arisen over
the dismissal of a member of the
Cartoon Unit, and the members
agreed to ban all overtime until
she was reinstated or pending
negotiation; the Organiser called
a general meeting of members in
the Pearl & Dean group of com-
panies, and after a very full dis-
cussion, the members agreed to
support the overtime ban. At a
meeting with the management the
Organiser pointed out that the
Union's main concern was with the
future policy of the company in
regard to dismissals, but if they
would give an assurance that
they would in future consult with
the Union before dismissals took
place we should accept their offer
of four weeks' wages to the mem-
ber. The company said they would
be prepared to do so, provided the
A.S.F.P. advised them to. The
Executive instructed the Organiser
to continue to press for the assur-
ance from the company, and gave
their full support to the members
in the action they had taken.

Subsequently it was reported
that the company had given the
necessary assurances.

CONSERVATIVE M.P.'S FILM
GROUP— GOVERNMENT WHITE
PAPER ON OVERSEAS INFOR-
MATION SERVICES: The General
Secretary reported that Max
Anderson, Derek Twist, and him-
self had met representatives of the
Government's Films Committee to
discuss the Government's report
on the use of films in the Home

and Overseas Information Services
and particularly the report of the
Chancellor of the Duchy of Lan-
caster. They put forward the
union's point of view on the White
Paper, which they criticised along
the lines of the Editorial in the
August Film and TV Technician.
They gained the impression that
the representatives of the Com-
mittee shared their view that the
White Paper was inadequate in
many respects and they would wel-
come more being done, but the
points on which they were opposed
to Union policy were on such
matters as the revival of the
Ministry of Information and the
Crown and Colonial Film Units.
However, they did share the
Union's view that more should be
done and that particularly, there
must be some super-Ministerial
co-ordinating body which could co-
ordinate and initiate production
and they gave an assurance that
they would do their best to make
this clear either informally to the
Minister or when the matter is
discussed in the House of Com-
mons.

FILM AND TV TECHNICIAN:

A report was received from the
F. & G.P. regarding a free issue
of the journal to all members.
After going carefully into the esti-
mated cost of such a free issue
compared with the present cost,
they recommended that the matter
should be left open for the time
being, as the additional expendi-
ture would be considerable and
they felt the extra money could be
used to better effect on other
things. After a very full discussion
the following resolutions were
carried by the Executive:

(a) Thai the F. & G.P.'s recommen-
dation be endorsed.

(b) That the F. & G.P. look into the
possibility of producing some
kind of half-yearly bulletin for
free issue to the membership.

(c) That shops should be advised to
appoint a Journal Steward Cor-
respondent responsible for sales
of the journal and for obtaining
local material.

This report was agreed by the
< teneral Council.

DOUBLE DUBBING AT PINE-
WOOD: Fred Tonge reported on
proposals for two dubbing crews

to work in shifts, one from 6 a.m.
to 3 p.m., and another from 3 p.m.
to midnight; payment would be
the guaranteed day plus overtime
at appropriate rates for those nor-
mally in receipt of overtime for
the hours outside the guaranteed
day. Transport and catering
would be arranged as and when
required. The Pinewood Shop
Steward reported to the Council
that the Editorial Department
refused to work these shifts, and
the view was forcefully expressed
at the Council that the proposed
arrangement was tantamount to
compelling members to work over-
time. It was agreed that the
Organiser should visit Pinewood
and discuss the matter further on
the basis of these views.

YTSTAVISION AND OPTICAL
COLOUR PRINTERS— INTERIM
REPORT: The Management of the
Rank Laboratories were asked for
a meeting to fix local rates for
the grades of VistaVision and
Optical Colour Printers but were
unable to accept the proposal on
the grounds that other Labora-
tories employ these grades. It has
now been decided to discuss the
matter at F.L.A. level and a meet-
ing will be arranged on Mr.
Strachan's return from holiday.

TELEVISION: Paddy Leech had
attended meetings of the TV Nego-
tiating Committee and over the
week-end of August 10th-12th had
attended meetings with the
General Secretary and Brother
Tony Shine in London, Manchester
(two meetings) and Birmingham.
Two other meetings, also to en-
dorse the National Agreement,
were held in London, for A.T.V.
and I.T.N, members. Approxi-
mately 300 Television members
were present at these seven meet-
ings, the voting in favour of en-
dorsing the agreement being 280
for, 20 against. The Organiser has
attended " assimilation " meetings
to correlate job titles and grades
in the various companies into the
Agreement in A.R.T.V., A.B.C.
Television Manchester (two meet-
ings) and in I.T.N, with the local

(Continued on page 142)

October 1957

FILM & TV TECHNICIAN

141

Joint statement by

The British Employers' Confederation

and the Trades Union Congress

JJN increase in personal savings would
be greatly to the advantage of Great
Britain at this time. That is a conclusion
upon which employers and trade union
leaders as well as all the political parties
are commonly agreed.

One important benefit which, we believe,
would result from a substantial increase
in savings would be to slow down the rate
of the inflation of our currency which has
been going on steadily for a number of
years. Another would be to help us to
finance the very heavy programme of in-
dustrial development Great Britain must
undertake if we are to compete success-
fully with other highly mechanised indus-

trial nations in the markets of the world.
In addition, individual savers who are able,
even with some effort, to put something by
regularly will find it greatly to their
personal advantage to do so.
For these reasons we, representing respec-
tively the British Employers' Confedera-
tion and the Trades Union Congress, call
upon all leaders of industry among em-
ployers and the trade unions to give their
best help to the National Savings Commit-
tee in their campaign during the coming
winter to increase by not less than five per
cent, the number of people saving through
National Savings Groups in places of
employment.

(Sir Thomas Williamson)

Chairman
General Council Trades Union Congress

24.8.1957

Cv4u4^f A*x

O^^y

(Sir Colin Anderson)
President
British Employers' Confederation

ISSUED BY THE NATIONAL SAVINGS COMMITTEE ■ LONDON, S.W.7

1 12

FILM & TV TECHNICIAN

October 1957

General Council

( Continued)

Stewards and officials. Membership
is steadily increasing, and our
organisation in several companies
improving. Local committees have
given support to ensure that the
Agreement is properly imple-
mented.

The Organiser has written to the
Secretary of the T.P.C.A., enclos-
ing B.F.P.A. rates and terms,
seeking the implementation of film
rates for our members in TV com-
panies' film departments. A letter
has also been sent to Scottish Tele-
vision, enclosing the National
Agreement and informing them
that A.C.T.T. expects the Agree-
ment to be observed, and stating
that Union officials are willing to
enter discussions immediately. Our
members there have also been sent
copies of the Agreement and asked
to recruit membership as speedily
as possible.

WEST DRAYTON EMPLOY-
MENT EXCHANGE: The General
Secretary reported that a reply
had been received from the
Ministry of Labour stating that,
as a result of representations
made by local bodies, the Minister
had finally decided that although

the continuation of the full-time
exchange at West Drayton was
not justified in view of its
proximity to the exchanges at
Uxbridge and Hayes, the office
should be kept open part-time,
these arrangements to commence
on September 2nd.

TELEVISION PRODUCER/
DIRECTORS' NEGOTIATING

COMMITTEE: As the Agreement
to cover Television Producer/
Directors still has to be nego-
tiated, the following were ap-
pointed to be the Negotiating Com-
mittee:

George Elvin

P. S. Leech

Desmond Davis

Max Anderson

Bob Dunbar

Derek Twist

together with one Producer/Direc-
tor from each company including
the B.B.C. and a nominee from the
TV Branch Committee.

NINETEEN FOREIGN TECH-
NICIANS were reported to be
working in Britain; with the ex-
ception of two Dutchmen, all were
Americans. They were all working
with permits from the authorities.

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Organisers' Page

( Continued)

business, so enabling them to
establish a sound foundation for
producing feature films in this
country which, although young,
has terrific possibilities.

The first impressions on arriv-
ing here were the huge cars they
run and the high speeds. In the
studio car park the scene was
amazing — looked as though a con-
vention was in progress, but the
cars only belonged to the studio
employees. Mind you, petrol is only
2s. 6d. a gallon and of course no
purchase tax. These cars are
certainly a comfortable ride.
Rennie-du-Pont, the 1st Assistant,
has already bought one. I expect
most of the other English boys
will follow suit, one hardly ever
sees an English car out here.

Rennie is on a TV Tugboat
Annie series and is also thoroughly
enjoying the experience out here.
When in the studio shooting a few
tests, many of our A.C.T.T. tech-
nicians came along to see me. I
was surprised, for I never realised
we had such a strong contingent
out here, almost like being back
home in our studios!

Yours sincerely,

Freddy Ford.

Where Else Could This
Happen ?

On one of the very few really
hot evenings we have had this
summer a meeting of one of the
Sections was held at 2 Soho
Square. The Secretary was very
sensibly clad in open-neck shirt
and flannels and one or two of the
other members were in normal
summer dress, including a lady
member in summer frock. The
meeting was presided over, how-
ever, by a Chairman, no doubt on
the way to another function,
resplendent in white tie and tails,
complete with gardenia. I won-
dered if it could happen in any
other union than A.C.T.T. I was
reminded of Verdi's wonderful Aria
in Tosca, " Recondita Armonia "
(Strange harmony of contrasts).

Shop Steward's comment on a
membership form recently re-
ceived: " Even after making allow-
ances for the sponsor's eulogies,
this applicant, I find, is still a good
worker."

FILM & TV TECHNICIAN SUPPLEMENT

October 1957

Guide to British Film Makers

THE PASSIONATE STRANGER

Year of Production : 1956.

Studio: Shepperton.

Laboratory: Humphries.

Producing Company : Beaconsfield Films
Ltd.

Producer: Peter Rogers.

Associate Producer: Gerald Thomas.

Stars: Ralph Richardson, Margaret
Leighton.

Director: Muriel Box.

Scenarists: Sydney and Muriel Box.

Camera Department : Lighting Camera-
man, Otto Heller; Camera Operator,
Gus Drisse; 1st Camera Assistant
(Focus), Brian West ; Other Camera
Assistants, James Hopewell, Alan
Rowland.

Sound Department: Recordist (Mixer),
George Stephenson ; Sound Camera
Operator, Sandie Fairlie: Boom
Operator, Jack Davies; Other Assis-
tant. Alan Blay (Maintenance); Dub-
bing Crew, Red Law and Crew.

Art Department: Art Director: George
Provis; Assistant Art Director, Ron
Benton; Draughtsman, Roy Walker.

Editing Department: Editor, Jean
Barker; 1st Assistant, Marcel Dur-
ham; Dubbing Editor, Chris Green-
ham.

Production Department: Production
Manager and/or Unit Production
Manager, Jack Martin; 1st Assistant
Director, Jack Causey; 2nd Assistant
Director, David Bracknell ; Con-
tinuity, Phyllis Crocker; Production
Secretary, Nona Binstead; Publicity
Director, Ken Green.

Stills Department: Still Cameiaman,
Norman Hargood.

ESCAPEMENT

Year of Production : 1957.

Studio: Merton Park.

Laboratory: Denham.

Producing Company: Anglo-Guild Pro-
ductions.

Producer: Alec C. Snowden.

Associate Producer: Jim O'Connolly.

Stars: Mary Murphy, Rod Cameron,
Peter Illing, Meredith Edwards.

Directors: Montgomery Tully, David
Paltenghi.

Scenarist: Charlies Eric Maine.

Camera Department: Lighting Camera-
man, Bert Mason ; Camera Operator,
Bernard Lewis; 1st Camera Assistant
(Focus), Peter Jessop; Other Camera
Assistants: I. McMillan.

Sound Department: Recordist (Mixer),
Keith Barber; Sound Camera Opera-
tor, Alan Mills: Boom Operator, Tom
Otter; Boom Assistant, Keith Pam-
plin; Dubbing Crew, Ronald Abbott.

Art Department: Art Director, Wilfred
Arnold; Assistant Art Director, Wil-
liam Holmes.

Editing Department: Editor. Geoffrey
Muller; 1st Assistant, Ina Davidson;
Dubbing Editor, Derek Holding.

Production Department : Production
Manager, William Shore; 1st Assis-
tant Director, Peter Crowhurst; 2nd
Assistant Director, Charles Mans-
bridge; 3rd Assistant Director, Arthur
W. Nicholls; Continuity, Marjorie
Owens.

Stills Department; Still Cameraman.
Frank Otley.

ILL MET BY MOONLIGHT

Year of Production : 1956.

Studio: Pinewood.

Laboratory: Rank Laboratories (Den-
ham).

Producing Company: Rank Organisa-
tion Ltd.

Producers: Michael Powell, Emeric
Pressburger.

Production Controller: Arthur Alcott.

Associate Producer; Sydney Streeter.

Stars: Dirk Bogarde, Marius Goring.
David Oxley, Demitri Andreas, Cyril
Cusack.

Directors: Michael Powell, Emeric
Pressburger.

Scenarists: Michael Powell, Emeric
Pressburger.

Camera Department: Lighting Camera-
man, Chris Challis; Camera Operator,
Austin Dempster; 1st Camera Assis-
tant (Focus), Steve Claydon ; Other
Cameia Assistant, Ronald Anscombe.

Sound Departm nt: Recordist (Mixer),
Charles Knott; Sound Camera Opera-
tor, Martin McClean; Boom Operator,
Basil Rootes; Boom Assistant, Ken
Reynolds; Dubbing Crew, Gordon K.
McCallum, W. Daniels, C. le Mes-
surier; Music, Ted Drake.

Art Department: Art Director: A.
Vetchinsky; Assistant Art Director
(Set), Maurice Felling; Draughtsmen,
Lionel Couch, Harry Pottle, Bruce
Giimes; Dress Designer, Renate
Routh.

Editing Department; Editor, Arthur
Stevens; Assembly Cutter, N. Ack-
land ; 1st Assistants, Jack Gardner,
A. Godfrey; Other Assistant, Noiman
Wanstall : Dubbing Editor. Archie
Ludski ; Dubbing Assistant, C. Lan-
caster.

Production Department: Production
Manager, Jack Swinburne; 1st Assis-
tant Diiector, Charles Orme ; 2nd
Assistant Director, Harold Orton; 3rd
Assistant Director, David Tringham ;
Continuity: Gladys Goldsmith; Pro-
duction Secretary, Jean Tisdall; Unit
Publicist, Jean Osborne.

St'lls Department: Still Cameiaman,
Harry Gillard.

Special Processes: W. Warrington, F.
Geoige, H. Marshall, C. Culley, D.
Hume.

AFTER THE BALL

Year of Production : 1956.

Studio: Beaconsfield Film Studios.

Laboratory: Humphries.

Producing Company : Beaconsfield Films
Ltd.

Producer: Peter Rogers.

Stars: Pat Kirkwood, Laurence Harvey.

Director: Gerald Thomas.

Scenarists: Peter Blackmore, Hubert
Gregg.

Camera Department: Lighting Camera-
man, Jack Asher; Camera Operator,
Leo Rogers; 1st Camera Assistant
(Focus), Hugh Salisbury; Other
Camera Assistant, Rod Fisher.

Sound Department: Recordist (Mixer),
Bill Sawyer; Sound Camera Operator,
George Rice; Boom Operator, Don
Roberts; Other Assistant (Mainten-
ance). Frank Sloggett; Dubbing Crew,
Anvil Films Ltd.

Art Department: Art Director: Nor-
man Arnold: Assistant Art Director,

Thomas Goswell ; Draughtsman, E.ic
Saw.

Editing Department: Editor, Peter
Boita; 1st Assistant, Michael Round;
Other Assistant, Fred Burnley; Dub-
bing Editor: Eric Boyd-Perkins.

Production Department : Production
Manager and /or Unit Production
Manager, "Freddie" Pearson; 1st
Assistant Director. Rene Dupont; 2nd
Assistant Director, Kim Mills: Con-
tinuity, Rita Davison; Production
Secretary: Pauline Chessell ; Pub-
licity Director, Vic Betts.

Stills Department: Still Cameraman,
Fred Williams.

SUPREME SECRET

Year of Production : 1957.

Studio: Southall.

Laboratory: Rank Laboratory (Den-
ham) Ltd.

Producing Company: G. H. W. Produc-
tions Ltd., for Church & Chapel Films
Ltd.

Executive Producer: Clifford Jeapes.

Production Controller: Jas. B. Sloan.

Stars: Hugh David. Meredith Edwards,
Harry Fowler.

Director: Norman Walker.

Scenarist: Lawrence Barrett.

Camera Department: Lighting Camera-
man, Lionel Banes, F.R.P.S. (2nd
Unit. Alan Hewison); Camera Opera-
tor, Leo Rogers; 1st Camera Assistant
(Focus), Jim Turrell : Other Cameia
Assistant, Ronnie Rogers.

Sound Department: Recordist (Mixer).
Dick Smith (2nd Unit, Derek Taylor);
Sound Camera Operator, Brian
Hunter; Boom Operator, John Brom-
ag?; Maintenance, Fred Goodes :
Music, Henry Reed; Dubbing Crew,
Maurice Askew, Bill Germain, Ed-
ward L. Nakhimoff. Bernard Childs.

Art Department: Art Director, Herbert
Smith; Draughtsman, Tom Goswell.

Editing Department: Editor, Duncan
Spence: 1st Assistant. Brian Hickin ;
Other Assistant. Terry Hine.

Production Department : Production
Manager. Harry Woof; 1st Assistant
Director, John Peverall: 2nd Assis-
tant Director, Roger Pennington:
Continuity, Gladys Reeve.

Stills Department: Still Cameraman,
Frank Bellingham.

MARK OF THE PHCENIX

Year of Production : 1957.

Studio: Walton.

Laboratory: Kay Laboratories Ltd.

Producing Company: Butcher's Film
Productions Ltd.

Producer: W. G. Chalmers.

Stars: Julia Arnall. Sheldon Lawrence,
Anton Diffring.

Director: Maclean Rogers.

Scenarist: Norman Hudis.

Camera Department: Lighting Camera-
man, Geoffrey Faithfull: Camera
Operator, John Winbolt ; 1st Camera
Assistant (Focus), John Shinerock;
Other Camera Assistant. Peter Mac-
Donald.

Sound Department: Recordist (Mixer),
Cliff Sandall; Sound Camera Operator,
Aubrey Lewis; Boom Operator. Jim
Perry; Maintenance. C. Earl.

(Continued overleaf)

October 1957

FILM & TV TECHNICIAN SUPPLEMENT

MARK OF THE PHCENIX

(Continued)

Art Department: Art Director, John
Stoll.

Editing Department: Editor, Harry
Booth: 1st Assistant. Marianne
Temple; Dubbing Editor, Leslie
i 'asker.

Production Department: Production
Manager and/or Unit Production
Manager, Charles Permane; 1st Assis-
tant Director, George Pollard; 2nd
Assistant Director, Jan Saunders;
Continuity, Doris Martin; Production
Secretary, Doris Prince.

Stills Department: Still Cameraman.
Cyril Stanborough.

THE FLESH IS WEAK

Year of Production: 1957.

Studio: Walton.

Laboratory: Denham.

Producing Company: Ravstro Films
Ltd.

Producer: Raymond Stross.

Associate Producer: Victor Lyndon.

Stars: John Derek, Milly Vitale.

Director: Don Chaffey.

Scenarist : Leigh Vance.

Camera Department: Lighting Camera-
man, Stephen Dade: Camera Opera-
tor, Gerry Massy-Collier; 1st Camera
Assistant' (Focus). Mark Hyams;
Other Camera Assistant, Peter Mac-
donald.

Sound Department: Recordist (Mixer).
Cliff Sandall; Sound Camera Operator,
A. Lewis; Boom Operator. D. Cavan-
agh ; Dubbing Crew, R.C.A.

Art Department: Art Director. John
Stoll; Draughtsman, W. Benson.

Editing Department: Editor, Charles
Hasse; 1st Assistant, Abel Goodman;
Other Assistant, Audrey Bromberg;
Dubbing Editor, Noreen Ackland.

Production Department: Production
Manager, Clifton Brandon; 1st Assis-
tant Director, Rene Dupont ; 2nd
Assistant Director. Kim Mills; 3rd
Assistant Director, John Archer;
Continuity, Jane Buck; Production
Secretary^ Cynthia Maugham.

Publicity Department: Publicity Direc-
tor. Leslie Frewin; Unit Publicist,
High Sampson.

Stills Department: Still Cameraman.
Ricky Smith.

BRITISH TRANSPORT FILMS

ON ALL FILMS:

I: vi i utive Producer: Edgar Anstey.
Production Manager: Len Oirdlestone.
Asst. Production Manager: Ruth Pratl

ANY MAN'S KINGDOM

Technicolor from Kodachrome
21 minutes
Producer: Ian Ferguson.
Diret tot Tonj Thompson.
Cameramen: Robert Paynter, Reg

Hughes.
Edit 01 John Legard.
Assistant Cameramen: Derek Witham,

Cordon Thornton.
Assistant Directors: Michael Healv,

Edward Scott.
Assistant Editors Harry Hastings.

David Plumb.
Commi ntary written by Harry Green.
Commi ntni <i \pnl;i n In/ Stephen Murray.
Music composed by Elisabeth Lutyens.
/,-. . 01 ding : Anvil Films.

A CENTURY OF BUSES

16mm Kodachrome 14 minutes
Producer: Ian Ferguson.
Director: Tony Thompson.
Cameramen: Ronald Craigen, Robert

Paynter, Bill Williams (SNR).
Editors: Margot Fleischner, Fat Jones.
Assistant Cameramen: Trevor Roe,

Lewis McLeod, Hugh Raggett.
Assistant Director: Frank Hoi ton.
Assistan' Editor. Hazel East.
Commentary u ritten by Paul Le Saux.
Cumin ntarn spoken hi/ Stephen Jack.
Recording : date Studios, Elstree.

CYCLISTS ABROAD

16mm Kodachrome 15 minutes

Producer: Edgar Anstey.

Director: Tony Thompson.

Cameramen: Ronald Craigen. James
Ritchie.

Editor: John Legard.

Assistant Cameramen: Trevor Roe,
Jack West.

Assistant Director: Donald Wash-
bourne.

Assistant Editor: David Plumb.

Commenary written by Paul Le Saux.

Commentary spok-n by Frank Duncan.

Recording: Pathe.

FOUR BACK ROOMS

17 minutes

Producer: Edgar Anstey.

Directors: Kenneth Fairbairn. Peter
M. Sims.

Cameramen: Ronald Craigen, Robert
Paynter.

Editor: John Trumper.

Assistant Directors: John H. Arm-
strong, Paul Khan, Ken Cooper.

Assistant Cameramen: Cyril Moorhead.
Trevor Roe.

Assistant Editor: Wilfred Fisher.

Commentary written by John Trumper.

Commentary spoken by Michael Good-
liffe.

Music composed by Julian Leigh.

!.'■ i hi ding Am il Films.

THE ENGLAND OF ELIZABETH

Technicolor print from Eastman-
colour 26 minutes
Producer: Ian Ferguson.
Director: John Taylor.
Cameramen: James Ritchie, David

Wat kin.
Editor: John Legard.
Assistant Directors: Ken Cooper, Roy

Meredith. Edward Scott.
Assistant Cameramen: Jack West,

Lewis McLeod.
Assistant Editor: David Plumb.
Commentary written by John Moore.
Commentary spoken by Alec Clones.
Music composed by Ralph Vaughan

Williams.
Recording: Ken Cameron. Anvil Films.

THE LAND OF ROBERT BURNS

Technicolor print from Eastman-
colour 21 minutes

Producer: Stewart McAllister.

Director: Joe Mendoza.

Cameramen: Robert Paynter.

Editor: Margot Fleis. liter

Assistant Cami rninan : Cyril Moorhead.

Ass stunt Director: Ken Cooper.

.1 ss stant Editor: Pat Jones.

Commentary written by Maurice Lind-
saj .

c, mi ii>, a a spoh ii In/ Stewart Mc-
Allister.

MuS'c i "hi :n i si 1 1 and mi ainit d by Cedric

Thorpe i >a^ ie

/.'. - 01 dxng Anvil Films.

LEVEL CROSSING GATES

45 minutes
Producer: Edgar Anstev.
Director: Kenneth Fairbairn.
Cameraman: David Watkin.
Editor: Alf Chapman.
Assistant Cameraman: Jack West.
Assistant Editor: Rosina Pedrick.
j '« . hi ding Am il Films

LOOKING AT TRANSPORT

13 minutes

Producer: Ian Ferguson.

Director: Norman Prouting.

Cameraman: David Watkin.

Ed tor: John Legard.

Assistant Director: Roy Meredith.

Assistant Cameraman: Jaik West.

Assistant Editor: Joyce Clarke.

Commentary written by Norman Prout-
ing.

Commentary spoken by Colin Wills.

Music composed and played by David
Hencker.

Recording: Anvil Films.

MECHANISED RENEWAL OF
PLAIN LINE

33 minutes

Producer: Stewart McAllister.
Director: Tony Thompson.
Cameramen: Ronald Craigen, Robert

Paynter. James Ritchie, John Turner.
Editor: Bert Eggleton.
Assistant Cameramen: Lewis McLeod.

Jack West, J. Hermges.
Assistant Director: Ken Cooper.
Assis'ant Editor: Valentine Rylands.
Recording: Anvil Films.

MAKING TRACKS

(R^-edit of above)

17 minutes

Producer: Edgar Anstey.
Director: Tony Thompson.
Editor: John Trumper.
Assistant Editors. Rosina Pedrick. Wil-
fred Fisher.
Commentary written by John Trumper.
B( ■ hi ding : Anvil Films.

MEN ON THE MEND

13 minutes

Producer: Edgar Anstey.
Director: Kenneth Fairbairn.

Cmni i aim n : Ronald Ciaigen, David

Watkin.
Editor: John Legard.
Assistant Directors: Edward Scott,

Dmial '• V ;i li'-oiirne.

Assistant Cameramen: Lewis McLeod,

Jack \V> st.
Assistant Editor: David Plumb.
Commentary written by Paul Le Saux.
Commentary spoken by Duncan Carse,

Conrad Phillips
/. ecoi ling Am il Films.

BROTHERS IN LAW

/» tin credits for tins tilin published

ui tin August Supplement tin nami of
Ko\ Boulting was given as Supervising

Fit, tnr Wi an informed that thert
n ,is m fact no Supervising Editor for
tins picture. G. T. Ambler should

Imvi In i n hstid OS 2nd Assistant, not
Asst n, hlu Cutter. We regret these
errors.

October 1957

FILM & TV TECHNICIAN

i i:;

imOHR FUJf

SERVICES LTtt

'You see . . .

I he fg multe no «».v/r## charge

for using prc-Hashed

printing stock a '

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Apply for free technical brochure

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144

FILM & TV TECHNICIAN

October 1957

interviews

ROBERT KRASKER

Director of Photography

THE STORY OF

ESTHER COSTELLO

A ROMULUS flta (or COLUMBIA PICTURES

" Esther Costello " looks
like being a winner,
Mr. Krasker.

Yes — we're, all very
pleased. It's the sort
of Jilm anybody would be proud
to have had a hand in.

What about the actual
photography? Are you happy
about that?

Oh, more than happy.
As you know, we shot it all
on Ilford FP 3.
/ chose FPZ specially
bun us, of its wide tone scale,
and fine grain
which is particularly
suitable f at-
wiil, sen , n pro], rtinn.

ILFORD LIMITED, CINE SALES DEPARTMENT, 104 HIGH H0LB0RN, LONDON, W.C.1 ■ TELEPHONE: H0LB0RN 3401

Published by the Proprietors, The Association of Cinematograph, Television and allied Technicians. 2 Soho
Square, London, and Printed by Watford Printers Limited, Watford, Herts.

NOVEMBER .

1957

Association of Cinematograph, Television and allied Technicians
Vol. 23 No. 154 PRICE 6d.

HONORARY MEMBERSHIP FOR
BILL SHARP

RUSSIAN FILM SEASON
IN LONDON

Maydana's Donkey (U.S.S.R.)
(See pa ye 152)

146

FILM & TV TECHNICIAN

November 1957

"GOOD CURVES"

We refer not to the vogue for " vital

statistics " but to the excellent characteristics of

Gevaert film stocks. Whichever Gevaert

film you use, negative, positive, duplicating,

recording, reversal, you may be sure that

the sensitometric characteristics are ideally

suited for the purpose.

GEVAERT

GEVAERT LIMITED Motion Picture Department

GREAT WEST ROAD ■ BRENTFORD MIDDLESEX EALing 3488

November 1957

FILM & TV TECHNICIAN

Ths Museum of Mod— Art
tltlAtl

A.C.T.T's STRUGGLE WITH
SCOTTISH TELEVISION

OUR experience in Scottish Tele-
vision shows how Trade Unions
can never take anything for
granted. Here we are having just
signed an agreement with the Pro-
gramme Contractors Association
and having obtained some two
years back a Fair Wages Clause in
the Television Act. In theory,
therefore, all is set without fear,
trouble or strife, for any technician
employed in commercial television
to receive the rate for the job and
work under Trade Union condi-
tions.

But what happens in Glasgow?
We make the appropriate initial ap-
proaches to the management draw-
ing attention to our existence and
referring to the Agreement exist-
ing to cover our members. We re-
ceive a polite letter back from Roy
Thomson, the proprietor himself,
implying all will be well and as
soon as the official opening is off
his company's hands they will meet
us in London to negotiate the
agreement. Which is fair enough.

Members Incensed

That was in August. We wait,
and nothing happens. So after the
station has been on the air about
six weeks an organiser goes up to
Glasgow and is informed by the
Managing Director that it will be
impossible to meet us for three or
four weeks. He hedged on the
immediate rectification of abuses
which it was known existed. Our
members had other views. They
were incensed at the management's
attitude, seeing they were working
between sixty and seventy hours a
week without a penny overtime,
even the sickness and suchlike
clauses of the National Agreement
were not being observed, and rates
were in many cases several hun-
dred pounds a year below what
they should have been. Some tech-
nicians actually putting shows on
the air were being paid as little as
£6 and £8 a week — and that for a
60-70 hour week.

So Organiser Paddy Leach went
back to the Managing Director and
said we could only agree to a
delayed meeting if some agreement
could be reached on back dating
and payment for overtime. The
company would not agree to this.

The following day, Thursday,
October 3rd, our members unani-
mously passed a resolution that
unless they received satisfactory
assurances in connection with the
national agreement, including com-
mencement of negotiations within
a week, immediate implementation
of a 44-hour week with overtime

By the

GENERAL
SECRETARY

payments thereafter, and operation
of the proper rates from the date
of this first meeting, they would
take the appropriate industrial
action from 6 p.m. the following
Tuesday, October 8th.

Despite Provocation

This led to meetings in London,
first with Bert Craik and then, on
Monday, the day before zero hour,
between Paddy Leach and myself
and Mr. J. A. Jelly, the General
Manager of Scottish Television.
Despite the provocation to dig in
on the strict letter of the law, we
met the company on the point
which, admittedly, must be causing
them some difficulty : namely the
number of trainees they have had
to employ at the outset. Taking
care of this in Clause 2, we signed
the following agreement :

1. That as from the 1th October, 1957,
all the Clauses of the Agreement
between members of the Pro-
gramme Contractors Association
and the Association of Cinemato-
graph Television and allied Tech-
nicians shall be operated with the
exception of Clause 29 as provided
hereunder.

2. That there shall be immediate dis-
cussions between the company and
the union to vary for an agreed
period of time, if it should be found
necessary, the maximum number of
trainees which may be employed.

3. The company agree to observe the
provisions of the Schedule to the
Agreement with payment as from
the next pay-day. llth October,
1957, and to this end discussions-
shall commence immediately be-
tween the company and the union
to agree an Assimilation Schedule.

4. With reference to the dates of ob-
servance of the above clauses it is
understood that these refer to the
commencement of liability of the
company and the actual payment
shall be made to the members of
the union as soon as reasonably
practicable.

Agreement Repudiated

All was well at last, we thought.
But whilst Paddy Leach was
travelling up to Scotland to report
back to our members, I got a
phone call from the Press at
Harrogate, where I had travelled
to attend a conference for A.C.T.T.,
in which I was told that Mr. Thom-
son had repudiated the agreement
signed by his General Manager.

So Paddy had to start all over
again and make clear to the com-
pany that unless the agreement
stood our members' resolution be-
came operative and Scottish Tele-
vision would go off the air, as
originally decided. We had the full
support of the other two unions
organising in Scottish Television
and there was no doubt that our
action would be completely effec-
tive. The company, therefore, had
second thoughts and decided to
recognise the agreement they had
signed.

Two issues ago we reviewed in
film & tv technician a publication
by the Trades Union Congress on
the Tolpuddle Martyrs. We don't
appear to have travelled far in 120
years, do we? Congratulations to
our Scottish members on their
magnificent stand. At least they
haven't been sentenced to seven
years' transportation for a "crime"
not all that dissimilar from their
Trade Union pioneers in Dor-
chester!

FILM & TV TECHNICIAN

Editor:
MARTIN CHISHOLM

Editorial Office:
2 Soho Square, VV.l

Telephone: GERrard 8506

Advertisement Office:

5 and 6 Red Lion Sq., W.C.I

Telephone: HOLborn 4972

148

FILM & TV TECHNICIAN

November 1957

Lab Topics

BILL SHARP, LABS' FIRST
HONORARY MEMBER

The highlight of recent weeks
on the Laboratories side was the
presentation, at a party held at
the Chandos Hotel just as the last
issue of the Journal was going to
press, of a Scroll of Honorary
Membership and a small financial
tribute to Bill Sharp on his retire-
ment from Pathe.

Bill thus becomes the fourteenth
Honorary Member of the Union,
and the first Laboratories member
to receive this honour for long and
untiring service to A.C.T.T.

Telegram from President

Anthony Asquith, away on loca-
tion, sent the following telegram :

" I am more sorry than i can
say, dear Bill, to be unable to join
tonight in honouring a most dis-
tinguished member of A.C.T.T. and
a greatly esteemed colleague and
friend, and I hope you will accept
my apologies with all the spirit the
occasion demands. The unit join
me in wishing you all possible hap-
piness today and every day. Tony
Asquith."

George Elvin made the presen-
tation. " Bill Sharp is unique," he
said, " we couldn't do better than
make him Laboratories Honorary
Member Number One ". He re-
called how Bill started his working
life delivering milk in his spare
time to help his parents and from
that had gone " to the dizzy
height of working at Pathe for
some thirty-five years."

Working-class Base

" In our early days," George
Elvin said, " we knew that we
must have some industrial base to
our Union, a hard base of people
bred and born in a working-class
background. We knew that what-
ever happened, if there was a row
with the management we should
have colleagues in the laboratories
who would give us sound and solid
support.

" When we decided to press for
better conditions Bill was in the
vanguard. One of the reasons for
the respect for our Union in the
industry was that we have had

people like Bill Sharp who loyally
.-support their colleagues.

" The last thing that Bill Sharp
wants is the limelight, but we in
A.C.T.T. are everlastingly grateful
to people like you and Frank

said. " Without it I should have
fallen flat on my face in the first
few weeks."

He recalled the day when he
joined the Union. " Everybody
seemed afraid to say it was a

Labs' Honorary Member Number One

Fuller who have helped to build
our organisation."

Mr. Bill Fielder, General Man-
ager of Pathe, who, with Mr. Cyril
Phillips of Pathe was among
A.C.T.T.'s guests, said : " Bill has
worked for Pathe so long that
we've got no records to check up
on him ! We wish him the best of
luck and a happy and long retire-
ment."

Bill Sharp, in reply, paid a tri-
bute to the help of his A.C.T.T.
friends in the Lab. " I couldn't
have carried on without it," he

Trade Union," he said. " They
called it an organisation. I asked,
' Is it a Trade Union or not?' and
when they said ' Yes ', I said,
' Well, there's my dollar, take it '.

" After that I thought, ' We've
started this thing and we've got
to carry it on '. My father had had
thirteen weeks on strike and had
to go and sing in the streets to get
strike pay. That was one of the
things that had impressed on my
mind that a Trade Union was the
one thing I should be in if ever I
got a chance."

November 1957

FILM & TV TECHNICIAN

149

Some days after the ceremony
George Elvin received a letter
from Bill Sharp, in which he said :

" Now I would like to say 'thank
you ' to A.C.T.T. for the honour
that has been bestowed upon me;
it is something that I shall cherish
until the end of my days. Although
I have received this honour, I think
a great deal of the credit must go
to our Branch, who in the early
days gave me so much confidence
by putting their faith in me that
I was able to go forward as I did,
and I can assure you that I had no
regrets; also credit is due to the
great help given to me from the
General Council in those early
days.

" It gives me great pleasure to
look back to the days from 1935
to 1939 and then to look upon
A.C.T.T. as it stands today, and
then realise that all the work put
in by all those early members was
not in vain. It is my wish to see
that A.C.T.T. go on gathering
strength as time goes on, and also
to see that they do not lose that
personal touch which I think has
enabled them to reach the strength
they are in today.

" My wife is very proud of the
Scroll of Honour and says when it
is framed it will take up a very
prominent position in our home.
She would like to have been with
us all last Thursday, but owing to
health reasons she cannot travel."

Three old hands leaving

Denham

Syd Bremson reports from Den-
ham :

Everything, it is said, goes in
threes, and the following is no ex-
ception. First Charles Wartman,
second Adam Black, and third, Pop
Wingrave, each within a month or
two of completing twenty-one
years' service, have all left
within a month or two of each
other.

Charles Wartman was in charge
of Stores since the opening of the
Laboratories in 1936, a quiet, un-
assuming fellow just doing his job
in spite of the handicap of being
minus one leg, lost during the
1914-18 war. He managed, with
the aid of his artificial leg, to drive
a small car from Cookham to Den-
ham and would, in fact, be still
doing so had he not, for purely
personal reasons, changed his
home to Shoreham. Good luck
Charles !

Adam Black, affectionately

THE LATE LOUIS LEVY

THE passing nf Louis Levy,
whose death was announced
last month, must bring recollec-
tions in the memories of many
members who had the great
pleasure of meeting and working
with so unique and delightful a
personality.

His vast knowledge and ex-
perience of films and the applica-
tion of music thereto went back
to the dim and distant past of
early silent movies — in the latter
period of which he and his
orchestra were the showpiece of
the new luxury " Pavilions " then
shaping the exhibition side. Film
lovers stormed the theatres as
much to hear and see Louis Levy
as to view their favourite films
and stars.

Turmoil

With the advent of " Talkies "
the industry was thrown into a
greater turmoil than " wide-
screen ", TV, or any other tech-
nical advance has ever created —
small wonder then that with un-
completed films shelved, produc-
tion stopped, studios outdated and
useless overnight, Producers of the
calibre of Sir Michael Balcon,
Victor Saville, Alfred Hitchcock
and the late Robert Flaherty, to
name a few, were delighted to
know that Louis Levy was avail-
able to assist them in the new
medium at such a serious and ex-
perimental time.

Humility and Patience

He had, despite his reputation
and great experience, a humility
and patience both of which greatly
encouraged those with whom he
worked. Sound Engineers and
Editors, particularly, found in him

a sympathetic, co-operative and
loyal colleague with a quiet enthu-
siasm for obtaining the best pos-
sible results in happy conjunction
with all departments.

At that time the problems of
acoustic treatment, direct music
recording on the set (in the
absence of advanced dubbing tech-
niques), etc. were many and diffi-
cult. It can be truly said that his
contributions to the technical im-
provements were great and never
at the expense of the other fellow.

Annual Film Ball

On the social side his musical
organising for the Annual Film
Ball held at the Albert Hall every
year during the 30's was stupen-
dous. To see — and hear — the com-
bined bands of the Brigade of
Guards together with the two
orchestras regularly employed
under his direction which took the
floor at midnight was awe-inspir-
ing even to film folk who flocked
to this occasion every year before
the war.

Radio Shop Window

At this time too he induced the
B.B.C. to take an active interest
in film music so that for years his
" Music from the Movies " main-
tained a radio shop-window for
films.

Of recent years he had con-
tended cheerfully with ill-health,
but despite this, to the end he
maintained his high reputation as
Musical Director to Associated
British Picture Corporation. The
industry is poorer by the passing
of this " great little man ". We
all owe much to so helpful a
pioneer.

W.S.

known as Jock, moved into the
Laboratories from the Studios on
17th October, 1936. He remembers
the trials, tribulations and teeth-
ing troubles of those early days.

Served Apprenticeship

Jock has been a Trade Union
member for forty-five years, having
joined the A.S.W. in 1912, a crafts-
man of the old school, very proud
of having served his full five years'

apprenticeship. He has been a
martyr to sciatica for the past two
years, during which time he has
been attending hospital twice a
week in the hope of affecting a
cure. Added to this, Jock has now
developed a heart condition, and
has had to retire almost at the age
of sixty-five; to quote his own
words, "Five years before I wanted
to". Never mind Jock, we all wish

(Continued on page 155)

150

FILM & TV TECHNICIAN

November 1957

THE LABOUR PARTY
CONFERENCE

Extracts from the General Secretary's Report

THIS year's Labour Party Con-
ference has led to even more
post-mortems than usually follow
the Party political event of the
year. That is due partly to docu-
ments being presented to the Con-
ference by the National Executive
Committee which, in searching for
unanimity, lacked clarity, partly
because Labour's shadow Foreign
Secretary, Aneurin Bevan, found
himself at issue with the 'Bevanite'
line on the H Bomb, and partly
because, through Bevan no longer
being a " Bevanite ", the strong
" rebel " element in many con-
stituency Parties lost their inspira-
tion and idol for whom they have
no adequate replacement.

Yet, paradoxically, far from the
Conference breaking up in a
shambles, it maintained a unity of
purpose, with minorities accepting
majority decision, which is all-
important if victory is to be won
at the next General Election, as
Labour is determined it shall be.

There were three main debates :
on National Superannuation, on
Public Ownership, and on Foreign
Affairs, including Disarmament.

National Superannuation

Until recently most of the
Labour Movement, including the
Trades Union Congress, have been
opposed to State pensions being
based on an individual's earnings.
The policy document " National
Superannuation " approved by the
Conference shows how new think-
ing with investigation and re-
examination of a difficult problem
can lead to a different and accept-
able policy.

No one will quarrel with that
part of the proposals which will
lead to a Labour Government rais-
ing the basic old-age pension to £3
a week and it, subsequently, keep-
ing pace with any rise in the cost
of living. Contention was on the
proposals for eventual half-pay
retirement for all on a contribu-
tory scheme basis with the invest-
ment of the scheme's funds in com-
mercial firms, which, it was
claimed, was essential to make
such a plan work, as did existing
private schemes.

Some critics wanted the entire
scheme financed out of taxation,

but Ft. H. S. Crossman, who intro-
duced the scheme for the Execu-
tive, not only drew attention to the
increase in taxation that this
might involve but also argued that
the insurance principle was a vital
safeguard, for without it govern-
ments could cut pensions in times
of stress.

Points not Pressed

Mr. Crossman also argued that
so long as the trade unions and the
community generally accepted dif-
ferent wage levels, so unequal pen-
sions should be accepted. He also
pointed to the trade unions in
answering criticisms that the In-
surance Fund should be able to
invest in private industry, saying
some unions had done so with
satisfaction.

None of the critics pressed their
points after a very able reply to
the discussion by Dick Crossman;
the critical resolutions were with-
drawn and the document itself
accepted.

Public Ownership

The second main debate resulted
in the adoption, by a five to one
majority, of 'Industry and Society',
the Executive Committee's policy
document on future public owner-
ship. It was in many ways a re-
markable debate, with delegates
such as Herbert Morrison and
Emmanuel Shinwell leading the
rebels from the floor — a 30-40 year
flashback, probably. Criticism was
on two main grounds. Firstly, it
was not clear what the Executive's
intentions were, and it was clear,
even if unsatisfactory, that a num-
ber of critical delegates only with-
drew their opposition on the
strength of what the platform
spokesmen interpreted the docu-
ment as meaning. Indeed, Harold
Wilson told us we should have been
at the Press conference when the
document was published, then all
would have been well!

The second main ground of criti-
cism was that, even after the ex-
planations and interpretations, it
was completely unsatisfactory,
both on the grounds of principle
and practicalities, to interpret
Labour's policy of public owner-

ship and control by purchasing
shares without necessarily obtain-
ing control, in a number of the
country's key privately owned
companies.

The critics lost by 5} million to
li million on the reference back
and by 6 million to 600,000 on the
amendment. The document was
then approved by 5.309,000 to
1,276,000.

Foreign Affairs

On Foreign Affairs there was no
division in the Conference and a
resolution was passed setting forth
a stated list of objectives includ-
ing the peaceful reunification of
Germany; reduction in armaments;
extension of international trade;
establishment of a permanent
United Nations police force; the
admission of China to the Security
Council; and general discussion
with the leaders of the U.S.S.R..
China and Peoples' Democracies.

Disarmament

There were three composite
motions on disarmament : two in
general terms and the third calling
for unilateral renunciation by
Great Britain of the testing or
manufacture of nuclear weapons.
The other resolutions proposed the
immediate suspension by Britain of
the H Bomb tests, but they sought
the support of all nations through
the United Nations for an actual
ban on production, destruction of
existing stocks and progressive
disarmament.

It was the difference between
Great Britain taking the initiative
in stopping production or, on the
other hand, only moving by inter-
national agreement with other
countries, that led to Aneurin
Bevan's unpopularity with his erst-
while supporters. They wanted Bri-
tain to act unilaterally. Bevan did
not.

There was contradiction in argu-
ment by Bevan as much as any-
body else. He made the obvious
point : it is no use producing if
you are not going to test; yet he
accepted there should be no testing
but not the cessation of production.
He argued that if Britain re-
nounced, unilaterally, the use, test-
ing and manufacture of nuclear
weapons, it would be unable to
influence American or Russian
policies, and in any case we
couldn't act alone in these matters,
having responsibilities to the Com-
monwealth.

Eventually, Mr. Bevan carried
Conference "with him by 5,836,000
to 781,000, and the other two com-
posite resolutions were carried
unanimously.

George Elvin.

November 1957

FILM & TV TECHNICIAN

151

TALKING POINTS

A Missed Opportunity

THE entertainment industry is so
publicity conscious that I hope
I may be forgiven for attacking
the authorities for missing a won-
derful opportunity of publicising
Britain to the world. It is a
shame that Britain, which was the
first country to issue postage
stamps, should be so unimagina-
tive in their design. Other nations
fanfare their achievements and
their culture to the rest of the
globe, while we seldom have more
than a few simple decorations
around the Sovereign's head.

Belgian Film Stamp

To celebrate a film festival in
June 1947 Belgium issued a stamp
with a portrait of Dr. Joseph
Plateau, the Belgian inventor, who
in 1831 commercialised the idea of
moving cartoons by sketching
drawings on a cylinder; when the
cylinder revolved, the audience,
looking through a peephole in
front, saw the drawings move. In
1949 the Russians issued a stamp
to mark the 30th anniversary of
Soviet moving pictures, and this
year both France and the Federal
German Republic have issued
stamps on the theme of television,
and you can see reproductions of
them on this page.

• 1 ^amO^^^O^^qi- T -o^Tj:--v:^- 1 - L ii. J iTiM>, l - '

cjllllf^P"^" 1 " '"^ISo

1
■
•

mrr'tOTi

*
<

x • •••■■« • .

^ BUN O'E'S POST

The rather abstract design of
the West German one, which was
issued on August 23rd, although
not to my personal taste, is simple
and effective; it was chosen after
two competitions had been held,
and is said to suggest the lattice
of light that appears on the TV
screen, when the set is switched on
and off.

Since the recent rise in postage
rates (a heavy burden on A.C.T.T.,
incidentally), one might imagine

that stamps were expensive things
to print. Actually, stamps of
Great Britain cost only some 6id.
per thousand to produce, so why
couldn't we have had a special set
last month to celebrate the 21st
anniversary of Pinewood Studios ?
Not only would
this have helped
in the impor-
tant work of
p o p u 1 arising
British pictures
abroad, but it
would also have
told our own
citizens of the
achievements of

British technicians, craftsmen,
artistes and producers in one of
our finest film production centres.
Further, it would have brought in
thousands of pounds, dollars,
francs, roubles, pesetas, forints
and other currencies from the
world's stamp collectors.

Among the British inventors in
the field of kinematography and
TV, Britain could issue commem-
oratives of William Friese-Greene,
Robert W. Paul, Alexander Parkes,
John Logie Baird and J. Arthur
Roebuck Rudge. Incidentally, do
you know for what these men are
famous? You should, you know,
but in case not, I give you thumb-
nail biographies at the end of this
column.

Cherkassov

In speaking my mind openly in
print like this it sometimes
happens that I fearlessly say some-
thing which frightens the Editor
so much that he cuts it out! That
happened last month, but he made
it up by sending me to meet the
celebrated Soviet actor, Nikolai
Cherkassov, who was introduced to
me by my friend Lindsay Ander-
son.

Cherkassov is one of the few
Soviet film stars who is at all
well known in this country, having
played such outstanding roles as
Ivan in Eisenstein's /ran the
Terrible and Professor Polezhayev
in Baltic Deputy, and we shall soon
be seeing him in what promises to
be his most interesting and exact-
ing part, Don Quixote.

In appearance he is a mixture
of Vic Oliver and R. J. Minney,

■By

CADMUS

with as much vitality as both of
them put together. He answered
our questions with great charm,
humour — and tremendous know-
ledge. In reply to a question of
mine, he made the startling re-
velation for a famous star that
he did not like
appearing in
close-ups. The
reason is that
he finds that
technique often
gets in the way
of an actor's
self - expression,
and in what he
calls " the nar-
row screen " he feels too confined.

Refreshing

I found this a refreshing point
of view, as so many serious
artistes in the West take a scorn-
ful attitude towards wide screen.
For Nikolai Cherkassov the wider
field gives more scope — but maybe
this is because his main work is
on the stage (at the famous
Pushkin Theatre in Leningrad).
I liked, too, his open admission of
the faults in Soviet pictures —
" heaviness is perhaps one of our
national shortcomings," he replied
to a questioner who wanted to
know if any Soviet productions
were being specially tailored to
Western tastes. No, he continued,
Soviet films were made first and
foremost for their own people. I
wish we could say the same about
our pictures — they would be far
more true-to-life, if they were.

Now for the answers to my
general knowledge test:

William Friese-Greene (1855-
1921). His patent of June 21st,
1889, is the first in the world to
give full particulars for both
taking and showing moving
pictures by photographic means.
He made a camera, which took
about ten pictures a second on
celluloid strip, he printed this film
and showed it on a screen, the
intermittent pictures merging to
give the impression of movement.

Robert W. Paul (1869-1943) was
primarily a scientific instrument
maker, and became one of the first

(Continued on page 158)

152

FILM & TV TECHNICIAN

November 1957

The fortieth anniversary of the Soviet Film Industry will be marked
in November by a season of

RUSSIAN FILMS IN LONDON

RATHER than dwell on the
Soviet pictures of the past —
the classics of Eisenstein, Pudov-
kin, Dovzhenko and others — I
should like to mark the fortieth
anniversary of the Soviet film in-
dustry by giving a preview of some
of the new films coming from their
studios, especially those soon to be
seen at the Season of Soviet Films
in London this November. Perhaps
in this way you will see the youth-
ful freshness and spirit of an in-
dustry that is expecting to expand
from eighty-five first features last
year to some hundred this.

Development of New Directors

One of the most successful inno-
vations of recent years has been
the development of a new genera-
tion of Soviet directors and artists
by the already established ones,
each of whom has taken one or
more under his wing. The new
graduates have come mainly from
the Institute of Cinematography,
in Moscow, and are generally in
their early thirties. One of the
best examples of the new school is
Grigori Chukhrai's The Forty
First, which opens the London
Season at the Palace Theatre on
November 3; since the Cannes
film festival earlier this year,
where it won a special prize, The
Forty First has received more
favourable comment in the Western
World than any other Soviet pic-
ture, not excluding The Battleship
Potemkm.

Yosif Hcifitz, who has made many
t.rue-to-life and deeply moving
human pictures. Sasha Rumyant-
sev is a young lorry driver who
finds himself the innocent victim
of a gang of crooks. One might

This story of a
sniper in the Civil
who falls in love
Guard prisoner, is
Potemkin, although
elements to make it
lar and acceptable
films among British

young woman
War of 1919,

with a White

not another

it has all the

the most popu-
of all Soviet
film-goers.

This film was not just a flash-
in-the-pan — there is, in fact, a
stream of pictures on the most
varied themes now emerging from
Soviet studios. The days when
breaking production records on col-
lective farms formed the basic
formula for film-makers have gone
for ever. One of the most popular
productions among Soviet audien-
ces last year was The Rumyantst i
Case (in Sovcolor), directed by

STANLEY
FORM AN

suppose that The Rumyantsev Case
was just another thriller — a type
of film up to now rare in the
USSR, but all too common here
and in America. But the film's
makers have created something
quite different — a psychological
drama of great intensity that only
uses the crime theme to show its
main characters in action. The
various attitudes of Sasha's friends
and workmates to his predicament,
and in particular the moving scene
in which his best friend adopts a
young child from an orphanage,
stand to make this a modern
screen classic.

Too Few Comedies

Comedies and musicals are still
far too few, but the colour musical
comedy Carnival Night, and the
children's film Old Khnttabych
(also in colour), will show that the
Russians have not lost their sense
of humour. I am sure that British
audiences will also appreciate the
satire in Carnival Night, which is
about how the plans for a New
Year concert at a factory club are
nearly wrecked by the man tem-
porarily in charge with his pom-
pous counter-plans; he wants to
"enlarge" the quartet and swap the
youth jazz band with an orchestra
of ancient musicians; but (need I
add?) all turns out well with the
concert — and with Grisha, the elec-
trician, who has fallen in love with
Lena, the pretty young singer and
dancer. Lena is played by the ver-
satile and vivacious Liudmilla
Gurchcnko, who studied at the

Institute of Cinematography, and
who in appearance might be called
a Soviet Pat Roc.

Youngsters, in particular, will
love the adventures in Old Khntta-
bych of the Moscow schoolboy,
Volka, who discovers an old jar
while swimming; when he opens it.
out comes the Jinni, Khottabych,
who performs incredible miracles
for him : he plucks a hair from
his long beard and caravans of
camels loaded with gold and pre-
cious stones appear; he can pass
through a thick wall, and, if he
likes, can alter the course of a
football match. In fact, the old
magician shows his powers in a
multitude of ways, accidentally
putting Volka in many a stupid
and ridiculous situation.

Rounded People

Now, in contrast, there is a story
of romantic-spirited men and
women who find the extraordinary,
not in dreams of fantasy, but in
their daily work. Jolly and un-
selfish, mischievous and kind-
hearted, forthright people, who
love and hate with passion — such
are the heroes of Great Height,
produced and directed by A. Zarkhi,
which won a main prize at the
Karlovy Vary film festival in
Czechoslovakia this year. This
dramatic, human story is about a
team of men who come to work
on the assembly of a new blast fur-
nace. Great Height is one of many
examples that I could give of how
Soviet films have got away from a
rigid "black and white" manner of
a few years ago; the people in it
are rounded, life-like persons, not
just characters representing heroes
and villains. Soviet audiences have
a great hunger for such stories
with contemporary backgrounds —
ether recent films have dealt with
such themes as juvenile delin-
quency, housing problems, living
with in-laws, black marketeering.
unmarried mothers, and red tape.

Many critics at the Edinburgh
festival last year praised the
simple and touching Magdana's
Donkey, when it was awarded a
Diploma of Merit there. The USSR
has a number of autonomous film
production centres spread over all

November 1957

FILM & TV TECHNICIAN

153

Above: "The Forty-First", which won a special prize at Cannes,
opens the London season. Below: " Magdana's Donkey "

Russian film-makers have dis-
covered that new techniques alone
do not produce good productions,
and there has been a return to the
normal size black-and-white pic-
ture, where the nature of the sub-
ject demands it.

In conclusion I must mention a
technique that is also common to
both our countries, because it
greatly increases our ability to
understand and appreciate each
other's films — foreign language
dubbing. The showing of the Soviet
film Othello at the Royal Festival
Hall this summer marked the first
public performance of a Soviet film
dubbed into English since the war.

The clubbing of Othello, which
has been brilliantly done by the
De Lane Lea process in Britain, is
the first of a series which includes
Twelfth N^ght, Skanderbeg, Carni-
val Night, The Forty First and
Don Quixote. Dubbing of this
calibre greatly increases the audi-
ences for such films in a way that
sub-titles could never do. The fact
that British technicians and artists
have had considerable employment
in this work has been a further
welcome way of celebrating the
anniversary of a film industry
that is forty years young this
November.

the Republics, and this one comes
from the Georgian studios. It is a
local story from the last century of
a poor peasant widow and her
three children, who find a sick
donkey on the road, and nurse it
back to health. Incidentally, the
independence of the local studios is
an important feature in the new
policy of decentralisation which
has recently been adopted in the
USSR. The job of the film depart-
ment of the Ministry of Culture is
to co-ordinate the production of the
many studios without interfering
with the artistic side, which is left
entirely to the producers, directors,
stars and technicians.

Finally, a film from the popular
treasury of Russian classics, The
Grasshopper, which is based on a
short story by Anton Chekhov. For
many Londoners this will be a most
welcome return of a colour picture
that ran for a most successful
season at the Everyman, Hamp-
stead, nearly a year ago.

I have left to last the technical
advances of Soviet film production
— perhaps readers of film and tv
technician will be the best judges
of that, anyway. I should mention,
however, that new techniques have
come to the fore, including Sov-
scope (an equivalent of Cinema-
Scope), stereophonic sound, and
panorama (similar to Cinerama).
But like their British colleagues,

154

FILM & TV TECHNICIAN

November 1957

Organisers' Page

OUR NUMBERS GO UP AND UP

IT is always gratifying to watch
any increase in membership of a
Trade Union, and it is therefore
most interesting to note the steady
strides which A.C.T.T. is making.
Since the beginning of the year
approximately 1,000 applications
for membership have come in.
Naturally quite a considerable
number, but by no means all, have
come from the Television Studios,
thanks to the efforts of Paddy
Leech and his colleagues in Tele-
vision. The flow of applications
also indicates that the film studios
are much more busy than is usual
at this time of the year. The pro-
gramme already envisaged by
many studios suggests that there
will be far fewer A.C.T.T. mem-
bers not working than is usual at
this season.

Shepperton

I understand that at last a start
has been made on the roofs of the
stages at Shepperton and this
again, although it will probably be
a long job, will have the effect of
giving more studio space and
therefore more work for our mem-
bers.

This is all to the good, as the
most important thing in any Trade
Union Organisation is a strong
membership. With membership,
however, there are of course res-
ponsibilities, and it is regretted
that at times there are not suffi-
cient members at a section com-
mittee or full meeting for points
of vital interest to be discussed.
One evening a month, or perhaps
even not so often, is not a great
deal of time to give to problems
which are of paramount interest to
your conditions and interests.

New Studio in Eire

We have received some interest-
ing information of a new studio
which is being opened in Eire, near
Dublin. From what we have
heard it seems that there is a
possibility of quite a good-sized
studio eventually emerging. What
effect this may have on our mem-
bership it is as yet too early to say,
but it would appear that there will
be a call for a number of techni-
cians.

The Irish press, reporting on a
press conference held by the pro-

moters, stated that already there
had been applications from techni-
cians at present working in this
country. Head Office are watching
the developments with interest and
if any member has any useful in-
formation to pass to us we should
be pleased to receive it.

FRED TONGE

Earlier this year, as was re-
ported in the August FILM & TV
technician, a Conference was held,
which Sidney Cole and I attended,
to attempt to bring Paul Robeson
to this country to sing and act.
The slogan at this Conference was
" Let Paul Robeson Sing ", and it
was sponsored by a very large
number of well-known people in
the fields of art and culture, to-
gether with many prominent politi-
cal and Trade Union leaders. As a
result of the initiative of George
Elvin and others a meeting has
been held of representatives of
unions within the entertainment
industry. The one object of this
committee is to attempt to bring
still further pressure on the
authorities in the United States to
enable Robeson to visit this
country, where it is certain that a
great welcome awaits him.

A Chance

According to a message which
Robeson delivered by Trans-Atlan-
tic telephone when he spoke and
sang to the Eistedffod organised by
the South Wales miners he has
now received permission to travel
to any point in the Americas; it is
assumed that this means that at
last there is a possibility of Robe-
son being allowed again to visit
other countries. I am sure that if
we as an Association can assist in
common with the other unions in
entertainment to do anything in
this direction it will be appre-
ciated not only by A.C.T.T. mem-
bers but by many, many other
Trade Unionists throughout this
country. Sir Tom O'Brien, on be-
half of N.A.T.K.E., has promised

his help, and the Musicians' Union,
British Actors' Equity and the
Electrical Trades Union also
attended the initial meeting.

Charles Bishop, former Secre-
tary of the Art Section, has made
unavailing efforts again to launch
the Art Department Year Book. It
is to be regretted that there was
not sufficient response for the pro-
ject to go forward. All members
who had paid for the proposed
book were circularised asking their
wishes in the matter. The result
was that the very large majority
agreed that any outstanding
monies should be used for some
charitable object. At the last meet-
ing of the section £13 5s. Od. was
handed to the A.C.T.T. Benevolent
Fund. Hearty thanks are due to
Mr. Bishop for his efforts in this
connection and to the members for
this welcome contribution to the
Benevolent Fund.

Subs, in Arrears

We spent quite a lot of time at
Head Office trying to trace the
comparatively few members who
are in arrears; it is true to say
that they are not many but it is
all extra work. On occasions we
get in unit lists and find names of
members who have paid no sub-
scriptions for some time. I would
remind members that annual sub-
scriptions are payable in advance
and that it is the responsibility of
the member to see that his subs
are paid. On a recent location of
about twenty members no less
than half were found to be in
arrears. In no case was it due to
anything more than forgetfulness,
but it does cause extra work.

The work of A.C.T.T. has to go
on and if the majority of members
were as slack as the minority it
would possibly create a serious
position financially.

Flash from recent location meet-
ing. A discussion had been held on
the type of generator to be used on
the job. An A.C.T.T. member gave
his forceful but impolite opinion on
the type of generator. N.A.T.K.E.
also said a few words from the
angle of having to man-handle the
thing into position. Comment from
the E.T.u. representative : " it is a
very good generator, the only thing
about it is, it keeps going wrong."

November 1957

FILM & TV TECHNICIAN

155

Lab Topics

(Continued)

you well and know that your Car-
penters' Shop will never be the
same again — especially when Jim,
Joe and the others have a tidy up
in there. May you enjoy many
years of odd jobbing in your re-
tirement.

Pop Wingrave came to the Lab-
oratories as a Still Man. He had
worked at stills with a firm in
Watford since he was fourteen and
was naturally disappointed when
he was put in to the Viewing De-
partment by Gare Schwartz where,
together with Bill Collo, he was
made responsible for 1st prints and
West End Show Copies. Neverthe-
less, he carried on with this until
1942, when he was given charge
of the Circulation Department
(mixing solutions, etc. for the
Developing Units).

Pop was (and still is) a very
placid man, only getting upset if
told to dismiss any of his men —
this he never did and the three
dozen or so trainees who passed
through his hands feel that they
owe him a debt which they can
never repay.

National Savings

From 1942 Pop took over the
National Savings Campaign and in
the same year pushed savings up
to £1,000 per year. He continued
to run the savings group — ever
increasing the takings — but had to
disband it at the time of the lock-
out.

Pop remained in sole charge of
his department until 1950 when,
with the expansion of the Labora-
tories and the introduction of
colour, the management engaged a
qualified Chemist. This, of course,
meant more work for Pop, which
he undertook with his usual cheer-
fulness and loyalty, for among his
qualities his loyalty was unques-
tioned.

He served on the A.C.T.T. Com-
mittee for four years and managed
to remain loyal both to the Union
and the Management.

For the record Pop is 74 years
" young ", and his advice for keep-
ing young is as follows : A happy
family life — no secrets from the
wife — the love of children and,
when the grandchildren come
along just keep up with the
youngest. Pop tells us that he en-
joyed good health throughout his
working life, but some years ago
had a fairly serious illness. He

feels eternally grateful to the
Management for the nice way they
treated him when on his return he
was told that he could come and go
as he wished, and " don't worry
about your 44 hours ". But such is
Pop's nature that he has never
abused this concession. He likes
work as a means of keeping his
mind occupied and would, in fact,
still be at the Laboratories had it
not been that his wife's health
has forced him to retire.

My personal tribute to Pop Win-
grave (in which I am sure all the
boys and girls at Rank Labora-
tories will join) is to say how much
he will be missed from the daily
scene. He was friendly with every-
body, young and old, always ready
to help others and always doing
something for somebody; in fact,
a man who knew the meaning of
Christian Charity — a fine "young"
Christian Gentleman.

Pathe

Stan Warbey writes: I am glad
to report that most of the members
at Pathe, Elstree who contracted
Asian 'flu have now recovered;
which is just as well because the
staff were sadly depleted during
the epidemic.

We have also had a bout of the
" love bug ", because three mem-
bers were married within four
weeks : Sheila Marsh, now Mrs.
Coughlan; Eileen Murdock, now
Mrs. Poyner, and Gordon Beavis,
each of whom were presented with
a wedding present from their fel-
low members, the presentation
being made by Mr. Ash, the Super-
visor.

With the summer holiday period
over our thoughts, naturally, have
turned to Christmas, and provi-
sional arrangements are already in
hand for a staff Christmas dinner
party, for which there is already
very good support. In the past we
have had a running buffet but this
year members have started collec-
tions early in order that we may
have a dinner instead, as this
seems to be the popular choice.

I had a phone call from an ex-
A.C.T.T. member, Brian Francis,
to tell me he is now the proud
father of a baby boy — David, and
also that he is hoping to visit his
old friends at the Lab soon. Con-
gratulations Brian.

Fred Cull reports from Pathe,
Wardour Street, that Margaret
Shoebridge, who joined Pathe Labs
(Wardour Street) from Kays, Soho
Square, as optical assembler, will
be working with Mick St. John,
also formerly of Kays, who is now
Rostrum Cameraman at Pathe

Labs. Basil Smith, also formerly of
Kays, is now a Printer at Pathe.

His colleagues offer their best
wishes to Alan Soanes who leaves
Pathe Labs after eight years to
take up a job as Assistant Editor
at Shepperton Studios. Alan
worked in Printing and afterwards
in the negative room.

Shorts & Documentary
Section

STEVE COX WRITES I

Our Section half-yearly general
meeting took place in the Crown
Theatre, Wardour Street, on Wed-
nesday, 2nd October. The meeting
was very well attended, in fact we
had a full house as far as seating
capacity was concerned.

The business was mainly a re-
port of the Committee's activities
during the previous six months,
and there was very little discus-
sion.

Item three on the agenda
brought a new member on to the
Committee, namely Roy Pace of
TV Cartoons. The vacancy was
brought about by the resignation
of Ralph Bond, who had been
advised to cut down on evening
activities as he has been overdoing
it and has got to take it easy for
a little while.

The usual practice in such cases
is to take the next on the list of
nominations, taken at the A.G.M.
This happened to be Walter
Lassally, but he, when invited to
serve on the Committee, had to
refuse the offer as he may be out
of the country on location for some
considerable time.

The meeting also marked the
start of our new series of film
shows, the " follow-up " of those
very successful ones we had last
winter.

The films shown were The World
of Little Ig, a cartoon made by
Halas and Batchelor, and High
Speed Flight, Part 1: Approaching
the Speed of Sound, made by the
Shell Film Unit and directed by
Peter de Normanville. Both films
won first prizes at the Venice Film
Festival.

The World of Little Ig dealt with
a little character named Ig and
his escapades when his mother

(Continued on page 158)

156

FILM & TV TECHNICIAN

November 1957

General Council in Session

DECISION ON NEW ENTRANTS

Arising out of the two Con-
ferences on new entrants to the
Union, the Executive Committee
had recommended that:

1. When the General Council
appoints a Committee to re-
examine any changes in Rule
which may be required, the
question of the desirability
or otherwise of Probationary
Membership in Television
should be examined.

2. The following should form
the New Entrants Com-
mittee, which should take the
report of the recall Con-
ference as its brief and work
along similar lines to the
previous New Entrants Com-
mittee: Fred Swann, Eric
Pask, Lindsay Anderson, Alf
Cooper, Bill Whittemore,
Ken Gordon, Tony Shine and
Charles Wheeler.

The Committee should report to
the Executive how, in their
opinion, all the various Rules re-
lating to membership should
operate.

3. Head Office should work out
a scheme for dealing with
the administrative problem
of sending out 8,000 new
membership cards at the end
of the year.

4. The General Secretary should
discuss with the staff the
possibility of arranging a
rota system for a period of
at least six weeks, under
which one member of the
staff be available from 8.30
a.m. on Monday mornings to
deal with urgent employment
enquiries.

These proposals were endorsed,
and it was reported that the staff
had agreed to point 4, which was
now in operation. Other recom-
mendations of the Executive with
regard to individual applications
for membership were discussed at
length by the Council, and while
a number of them were endorsed,
others were referred back due to
representations of two of the de-
partmental sections.

25th ANNIVERSARY CELEBRA-
TIONS: The Criterion, Piccadilly
Circus, has been booked for Fri-
day, February 7th. The function
could continue into the early hours

of Saturday morning. The Finance
and General Purposes Committee
recommended that the charge
should be 10/- per head so that
all members desiring to do so
could attend. This would mean
part of the cost would be borne
out of Union funds. The General
Council endorsed these proposals
and it was agreed to make tickets
available to unemployed members
at half price.

WORLD FEDERATION OF

TRADE UNIONS: It was reported
that the Technicolor and Kodak
shops had accepted invitations to
send observers with speaking
rights to the forthcoming Con-
gress of the World Federation of
Trade Unions. The General Secre-
tary expressed the view that,
while he was sure the Union, as
always, would want to protect the
personal freedom of individual
members, it would only make for
difficulty, in view of the well-
known policy of the other inter-
national trade union federation,
the I.C.F.T.U., to which the T.U.C.
was affiliated, if any representa-
tives went officially from A.C.T.T.,
either nationally or locally, as was
clear from statements made to
other affiliated trade unions in the
past by the T.U.C. General
Council. This was endorsed by
the Council.

VISTAVISION AND OPTICAL
COLOUR PRINTERS: Our case
for inserting the grades Vista-
Vision and Optical Colour Printer
in the Laboratory Technical and
General Grades Agreement was
submitted to the F.L.A. at a joint
meeting. We argued that the
work performed by these grades
justified a minimum basic rate of
£13 9s. 4d. in the case of Optical
Colour Printers and £10 16s. 4d. in
the case of the VistaVision
printers. The F.L.A. were unable
to accept our arguments and in-
vited us to visit Technicolor and
the Rank Laboratories (Denham)
to examine the work. A further
joint meeting could then be held if
A.C.T.T. so desired. The Labora-
tory Negotiating Committee de-
cided to take advantage of the in-
vitation and arrangements are
being made for the visits.

PEARL & DEAN — DOVER
STREET: Following on Bessie
Bond's report of last month, a
further meeting with the Manage-
ment was held and, after quite
tough negotiation, a very satis-
factory letter has been received
signed by both the Director and
Secretary of the Company.
Although the dispute was with the
Cartoon unit only, the company
undertake to have discussions with
A.C.T.T. before dismissals are
effected by all their companies
within the group. Our members
are delighted with the outcome,
and the Organiser wrote thanking
them for the stand they took
which made this victory possible.
Shop Stewards and deputies are
now functioning at all the units
within the group. This issue has
helped build up the morale of the
members.

GROSS-KRASNE LIMITED: The

General Secretary reported that
he had seen the management and
it appeared to him that the main
interest in processing in Great
Britain was to get British quota
for television. No A.C.T.T. mem-
bers were employed on the produc-
tion and one of those associated
with it was an individual whom
the General Council had instructed
A.C.T.T. members not to work
with. He had therefore told the
management that we would
oppose their activities, unless they
complied fully with our agree-
ments and with the understand-
ing reached with the I.T.A. in re-
lation to the employment of
United Kingdom personnel on such
films. The company then

threatened to take the processing
back to the United States. The
General Secretary recommended
that no attempt should be made
to accommodate the company and
the Council endorsed this.

CINEMATOGRAPH FILMS

COUNCIL: The appointment of
members of the Cinematograph
Films Council expired on Septem-
ber 30th, and the General Secre-
tary has been invited by the Pre-
sident of the Board of" Trade to
continue to serve as one of the
representatives of the employees
for a further three years.

November 1957

FILM & TV TECHNICIAN

157

LONDON LABOUR PARTY 44th
ANNUAL CONFERENCE: It was

agreed to nominate the following
as delegates to this Conference
due to be held on Saturday and
Sunday, March 1st and 2nd, 1958:
Fred Tonge, Len Runkel, George
Irons, Dudley Birch, Ken Gordon.

SOCIALIST MEDICAL ASSO-
CIATION: An invitation had been
received to send delegates to a
Public Meeting in connection with
the testing of Hydrogen Bombs
called by this Association, and
Bernie Lewis and John George
were appointed delegates.

NATIONAL FEDERATION OF
PROFESSIONAL WORKERS:

The General Secretary reported on
a meeting of the N.F.P.W. Execu-
tive Committee at which the appli-
cation for affiliation from the
Association of Broadcasting Staffs
had been considered. He and Alf
Cooper had attended and had very
forcibly put the case why the
A.B.S. should not be accepted into
membership. In addition to the
support already obtained from
N.A.T.K.E., they also received ex-

cellent support from other Union
officials, particularly the Guild of
Insurance Officials, A.S.S.E.T. and
the Institute of Professional Civil
Servants.

A resolution was moved pro-
posing to defer a decision for a
month pending consultation by the
officers with the Unions directly
concerned. The General Secretary
moved an amendment to reject
the application and inform the
A.B.S. that it would be recon-
sidered as and when they had
straightened out their differences
with affiliated unions. The amend-
ment was carried by 12 votes to 11
and carried as a substantive
motion by 13 votes to 6. The
Executive congratulated the dele-
gates on the manner in which they
had handled the situation.

GRANADA TV — CHELSEA
PALACE: Bessie Bond attended a
meeting of our members at this
unit, as they expressed the wish to
set up their own organisation. A
Shop Steward was elected
(Michael Roberts), a small com-
mittee representing engineering
and production was set up and a
collector was appointed.

DOUBLE DUBBING AT PINE-
WOOD: Reports were given by
Organiser Fred Tonge and the
Pinewood Shop Steward regarding
arrangements made with the
Management at Pinewood and the
attitude of members. After dis-
cussion, it was agreed that any
further night work shall be done
strictly in accordance with the
B.F.P.A. Agreement.

INTER -UNION COMMITTEE:

The General Secretary reported a
meeting of the Committee arising
out of N.A.T.K.E.'s claim to
organise certain of the grades in-
cluded in the new Television
Agreement. N.A.T.K.E. had now
withdrawn their claim to some of
the grades and on others they
recognised that our claim was ten-
able. However, the grade of Tele-
cine Operators was still in dis-
pute. The Inter-Union Committee
agreed that both N.A.T.K.E. and
A.C.T.T. should prepare written
statements outlining their reasons
for claiming the grade for sub-
mission to the E.T.U., who were
responsible for convening Inter-
Union Committee meetings, and
there would be a further meeting.
A.C.T.T. 's claim had been pre-
pared and submitted.

Just published
THE TECHNIQUE OF FILM MUSIC

by JOHN HUNTLEY and ROGER MANVELL

Written in collaboration with a special committee set up by the British Film Academy for all
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experimental and cartoon films as well as features, describes recording procedure and the function
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Cloth bound Size%\"x5V 304 pages 150 illustrations

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by VINCENT J.-R. KEHOE

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amateur for its practical advice, new ideas and information on products, both British and
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Cloth bound Size 8 J" X 5 \" 264 pages 280 illustrations

PRICE 42/-

FOCAL PUBLICATIONS

158

FILM & TV TECHNICIAN

November 1957

'Cadmus'

(Continued)

well-known British producers,
though his film career was fairly
short. Paul was the first to bring
kinematography into the commer-
cial field, his show at Olympia in
March 1896 being the first given
by an Englishman at which ad-
mission was charged.

Alexander Parkes, of Birming-
ham, invented celluloid in 1854.
Later, the Rev. Hannibal Goodwin
patented celluloid film in ribbon
form.

John Logie Baird pioneered tele-
vision in Britain; the first demon-
stration of televising moving
pictures, which showed detail
(rather than being just .'il-
houettes), was given by Baird on
January 27th, 1926, in a room in
Frith Street (now occupied by
Bianchi's restaurant).

John Arthur Roebuck Rudge

worked with Friese-Greene in Bath
and about 1866 made a magic
lantern, which he called the Bio-
phantoscope, with seven glass
slides, each showing one stage in
a movement; although this revolv-
ing " lantern of life " did not
actually make moving pictures, it
was one of their forerunners, and
helped Friese-Greene in his work.

On Location

Camera Crew and Continuity working on A.B.I'.C.'s
summit of the Jungfrau. Lighting cameraman

• High Hell '
is Jimmy W

near the
ilson

Shorts & Documentary
Section

[Continued)

needs his assistance to get her a
pail of water.

High Speed Flight was intro-
duced by Peter de Normanvillc,
who explained how and why the
film, which is for specialised audi-
ences, such as flying personnel,
came to be made.

The film was an excellent one,
in Eastmancolor. Direction and
photography were very good. But,
like many in the audience, 1 am
afraid it was much too technical
in " aeronautical parlance " for me
to understand its full significance.
There was very little in the way
of discussion, except for a few
points on camera work.

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JACK DAVIES, popular Boom
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bonny 81b. 13oz. baby daughter.
Our congratulations to Mr. and
Mrs. Davies and best wishes for
their daughter's future.

GET THAT

BADGE

A.C.T.T.

Badges

and Brooches

can be

obtained

from Head

Office.

Price :

Badges, 2/-,

Brooches, 2/4

(post free).

November 1957

FILM & TV TECHNICIAN

159

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160

FILM & TV TECHNICIAN

November 1957

interviews E R W I N I L L I E R

Director of Photography CHASE A CROOKED SHADOW

An ASSOCIATED DRAQO.V FILM LTD. production for ASSOCIATED BRITISH l'ATHE LTD. RELEASE

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ILFORD LIMITED. CINE SALES DEPARTMENT, 104 HIGH HOLBORN, LONDON WC.1 Telephone: HOLborn 3401

DECEMBER .

1957

Association of Cinematograph, Television and allied Technicians
Vol. 23 No. 155 PRICE 6d.

WAR ON THE UNIONS

WHERE DOES TV GO FROM
HERE?

PROFILE OF DESMOND DAVIS

Film Making in Shanghai
Picture by R. J. Minney (see page 170)

162

FILM & TV TECHNICIAN

December 1957

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for 12 - 24 months in first instance.
Salary according to qualifications
and experience in scale (including
inducement addition) £810 rising to
£1,716 a year. Gratuity at rate
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Allowance £40. Free passages for
officer and wife. Assistance to-
wards cost of children's passages
or grant up to £288 annually for
their maintenance in United King-
dom. Liberal leave on full salary.
Candidates must have had at least
5 years' experience with reputable
film units and long practical ex-
perience of handling 35mm. and
16mm. film and magnetic tape re-
cordings. Write to the Crown
Agents, 4 Millbank, London, S.W.I.
State age. name in block letters,
full qualifications and experience
and quote M3B/43721/CY.

December 1957

EDITORIAL

163

FILM & TV TECHNICIAN _

THEY WANT WAR

rpHE' Government, it is now be-
-^ coming increasingly clear, is
hell-bent for war on the Trade
Unions.

Recent facts speak for them-
selves and their meaning should be
clearly grasped by every trade
unionist in the country, whatever
his personal political outlook may
be. Take the question of the
Health Employees, for instance.
Representatives of both sides on
the Whitley Council agreed on an
increase of 3% for those below a
certain salary. The Minister of
Health, presumably with the full
backing of his colleagues in the
Government, refused to operate
this properly negotiated decision.
By this action alone the Govern-
ment has thrown, and deliberately
thrown, the largest size spanner in
the whole national machinery of
negotiation. Without a declaration
of war it has perpetrated an act
of war.

But that is not all. The Chancel-
lor of the Exchequer, speaking in
the recent economic debate in the
House of Commons, had this to
say :

" Wages increases unrelated to,
and going far beyond, the general
growth of real wealth within the
country are by far the greatest
danger we have to face, and we
should be deceiving ourselves if
we pretended otherwise. Those who
ask for wage increases, those who
grant wage increases, and those
who adjudicate about wages should
have this fact firmly in the fore-
front of their minds."

What the Government, through
the Chancellor of the Exchequer, is
in fact saying, is this : " If you are
a wage earner do not ask for any
more money. If you insist on ask-
ing, we shall do everything in our
power to see that your employer
does not give it to you, even though
he may recognise the justice of
your claim and be willing to in-
crease your pay. Of course, you
are perfectly free to take the
matter to arbitration. Do so, by all
means. We shall warn the arbi-
trators to find against you, and if
they ignore our warning we shall
refuse to implement their findings
and we shall do everything possible

to see that 'independent' employers
do the same."

The Government was not slow to
implement this attitude in the case
of the railwaymen.

Clearly, in the light of all this, it
would be a pathetically trusting
trade unionist who could go before
any arbitration tribunal on a ques-
tion of wages with any confidence
in receiving an impartial finding.

ANNUAL GENERAL MEETING

NOTE THESE DATES

The Annual General Meeting

will be held on Saturday,

March 8th and Sunday,

March 9th, 1958, at the*

T.U.C. Memorial Buildings,

23-28 Great Russell Street,

London, W.C.2

FINAL DATE FOR
RESOLUTIONS

All resolutions and nomina-
tions must be received at
Head Office
NOT LATER THAN
FRIDAY, DECEMBER 27th,
1957

Tribunals in the past, though
they have perhaps not been en-
tirely free from prejudice on all
occasions, have at least served as
reasonably impartial bodies, and in
doing so they have been a valuable
element in preventing unnecessary
industrial warfare. That they can
no longer perform this service is a
matter of the Government's seek-
ing. It seems that they would
prefer open war to peaceful nego-
tiation. Trade Unionists every-
where will note the Government's
choice.

The war against higher wages
and the spanner in the machinery
of negotiation are two aspects of
a policy that is bound to have very
grave consequences. But this is
not all. The Chancellor of the Ex-
chequer attacked " wage increases
going far beyond the general
growth of real wealth ". This gen-
eral growth of real wealth, on
which the well-being of the country
as a whole depends, demands the
maximum of productivity together

with full employment, yet the
Government has instituted financial
policies which by discouraging in-
vestment are bound to curb rather
than foster the expansion of in-
dustry, and to lead to unemploy-
ment rather than full employment.

As the T.U.C. Economic Com-
mittee has pointed out, the Govern-
ment's financial measures have led
to a position in which the right to
work is no longer acknowledged as
a social and economic priority.

The results of such a policy may
bring disaster, and, of course, there
will be an attempt to pass the
blame to the Unions if and when
it comes.

What we have written above
applies to the industrial field as a
whole, but members of A.C.T.T.
will not have forgotten that we
ourselves have some claims pend-
ing on behalf of our members.
There will, for instance, be a claim
going shortly to the Laboratory
employers, and we have no inten-
tion of being put off with a refusal
based on the Chancellor of the
Exchequer's statement which we
quoted above.

Then, again, there are to be
approaches to the A.S.F.P. for a
consolidation of the cost of living
bonus.

We feel it necessary to make one
thing crystal clear. While the cost
of living continues to rise there
will be wage claims from various
sections of the industry, but we do
not accept the cost of living and
productivity as the sole determin-
ants of wages. As long as the
employers are entitled to operate
for their own profit workers in the
industry are equally entitled to a
fair and reasonable share of the
proceeds.

FILM & TV TECHNICIAN

Editor:
MARTIN CHISHOLM

Editorial Office:
2 Soho Square, W.l

Telephone: GERrard 8506

Advertisement Office:

5 and 6 Red Lion Sq., W.C.I

Telephone: HOLborn 4972

164

FILM & TV TECHNICIAN

December 1957

WHERE DOES TV GO FROM

THE first shots are being fired on the future of television. It is soon
* enough, but not too soon, for the B.B.C. Charter expires in 1962 and
the Charter of the I.T.A. in 1964. That sounds a long way off but the
almost certain Royal Commission, and drafting and debating the legisla-
tion which have to precede the new patterns will between them occupy a
considerable amount of time. Organisations directly and keenly con-
cerned, which of course include A.C.T.T., should therefore soon start
giving thought to what their policies will be.

One thing is certain. Policies
which may have been right at the
time when the introduction of com-
mercial television was being de-
bated are now in many respects
out of date. The B.B.C.'s monopoly
has been broken and there will be
few advocates of its restoration.
Competitive television in some form
or another is here to stay.

Let us consider some recent pro-
nouncements. First, Gerald Beadle,
Director of B.B.C. Television
Broadcasting, speaking at a Radio
Industries Club luncheon on 30th
October said that the function of
the B.B.C. Television service would
be so different from that of com-
mercial television in the future
that only in the most superficial
sense would they be regarded as
alternatives.

Educated Democracy

It would be a mistake, Mr.
Beadle said, to expect commercial
television to be " a reflection of
the advancing tastes and aspira-
tions, or of the perplexities, of an
educated democracy in the mak-
ing." Its programmes, he implied,
were to cater for the mass audi-
ence while, on the other hand, the
B.B.C. did not have to sell their
product to anyone and could con-
centrate on audiences in the
plural. Mr. Beadle continued : "We
measure our successes and failures
to a large extent by whether or
not we achieve the appropriate
audience for each programme."
The B.B.C, he said, would devote
itself to a modern, up-to-date
channel devoted to satisfying the
requirements of an educated
democracy-in-the-making.

In other words, it seemed that
Mr. Beadle was saying that com-
mercial television could concen-
trate on broad, popular entertain-
ment for the masses, bringing the
advertiser in touch with the large
audience essential for effective
sales promotion, while the B.B.C.
would reflect the British way of
life at its best, with particular pro-
ej amines to appeal to particular
audiences.

This at once brought a broadside

By the

GENERAL
SECRETARY

from Sidney Bernstein, who says
that when it comes to quality
Granada will match the B.B.C.
production for production. He will
have nothing of Mr. Beadle's blast
about I.T.V.'s role as entertainer
to the lowest common denominator.
Herbert Morrison, M.P., former
Home Secretary, in a speech on
9th November hit another angle.
He attacked commercial television
as " wholly inflationary ", and
THE observer reported him the
next day as saying :

" Commercial television has
duplicated capital costs in a field
where technical labour supply is
not plentiful. It is lowering our
standards and facing the B.B.C.
with rt dilemma as to whether it
should depreciate its own stan-
dards or face the possibility of
lessening its number of viewers.
" The Television Act was a bad
departure from television as a
public service as compared with
television chasing 'circulation'
irrespective of standards and
taste."

Wedgwood Benn

Finally, we come to Anthony
Wedgwood Benn, M.P., who writes
a thoughtful article in the socialist
digest for November. He puts for-
ward a proposal that the whole of
Britain's radio and television ser-
vices should be run by four public
corporations, all having a share in
the licence fee and allowed to
accept advertising. He wants the
new public service based on four
principles :

1. The continued expansion of tht
TV s( rvice.

2. The continuation oj full public
control oj all technical until* is.
through tin Postmaster General.

HERE?

3. The maintenance of an element

of public service in the operation
of all stations.

4. The maximum of competition in
order to maintain the integrity
and creativeness of programmt
staff and the best choice for tin
viewer and listener.

His four public corporations
would be as follows : First, the
B.B.C, which would broadcast two
basic national programmes in
sound only, rather like the Home
Service and the Third Programme.
This should be able to be picked up
all over the country. The B.B.C
would also handle all overseas
broadcasting as it now does.

New Corporation

Secondly, there should be a
new corporation established called
the " Independent Broadcasting
Authority" (I.B.A.), which would
take over the Light Programme as
a second competitive national pro-
gramme. It would also be respon-
sible for technical co-operation
with the regions. The regions
would be completely autonomous
and free to make their own net-
work arrangements. Local V.H.F.
broadcasting would also be stimu-
lated by the regions.

Thirdly, B.B.C. television should
be hived off as the British Tele-
vision Corporation (B.T.C). This
would broadcast one or more
national programmes and would be
responsible for foreign links, like
Eurovision. It would be completely
autonomous.

Finally, the I.T.A. would be
strengthened and given the right
to produce its own programmes. It
would also be given a greater
authority over the programme
companies. The exact nature of
this relationship would be left open
for negotiation.

There is one further point, men-
tioned by none of the foregoing
protagonists but which deeply con-
cerns us as Trade Unionists. The
B.B.C, despite the terms of its
Charter and despite recommenda-
tions of the Beveridge Report, re-
mains one of the most reactionary
and impossible of employers. Com-
mercial Television, on the other
hand, albeit after some pressure,

(continued on page 16 s )

December 1957

FILM & TV TECHNICIAN

165

Talking Points

DOES TV HELP CINEMAS?

NO HORROR HERE

IT is about time we stopped let-
ting people kid us that films and
television are basically different
and opposed to one another. True,
I have yet to see a cinema adver-
tisement urging patrons to watch
a particular TV programme
(though I expect that will come),
but I should like to commend some
fascinating work done by young
Theo Richmond,* which indicates
that a large section of cinema-
goers are induced into the pictures
by publicity on TV, both BBC and
commercial.

A Contradiction

Richmond is what may at first
sound like a contradiction in terms,
for he is a film publicity director
and a scientist, and the Boulting
Brothers, who employ him, have
just published his enquiry into
what made people queue up to see
Brothers In Law in the London
general release area.

Six out of ten who went to see
this comedy also watch TV, but
half of them only do so less than
three evenings a week. Just the
same, the TV programmes, which
featured something about Brothers
In Law, were so effective that 209f
of those interviewed gave TV as
their reason for going to see the
picture.

Actually, the main reason given
by those in the queues was the cast

of this amusing British film (over
30 r /c of those quizzed gave this
reason for going to the pictures
that day), but here, again, I feel

* " The Answer in the Q."

General Secretary

(continued)

has faced up to its responsibilities
in recognising and negotiating pro-
per agreements with the appro-
priate Trade Unions. Whatever
finally emerges as the new pattern
we shall insist that the I.T.V. stan-
dards and not the archaic ones of
the B.B.C. shall continue to apply
to those who create, produce and
transmit the programmes.

The four persons I have men-
tioned have started us thinking.
A.C.T.T. must before long get
down to formulating its own policy.
Maybe we should look carefully at
the pronouncements I have cited
for a start.

that TV must be reckoned, together
with the other means of publicity,
to have had its effect, as most of
the programmes featured one or
more of the stars. It is significant
that all the TV publicity was in
entertainment programmes — seven
of them from the BBC — and no
commercials were telecast for the
picture. I hope John and Roy
Boulting and their far-sighted pub-
licist Theo Richmond will carry
out a similar survey with Lucky
Jim (in my opinion a better piece
of filmcraft than Private's Pro-
gress or Brothers In Law), for
which 15-second commercials have
also been put on the air.

No hasty conclusions can be
drawn from the present enquiry —
and Richmond is careful to point
out the limitations in this case —
but I commend it to the monolithi-
cally-minded moguls of the Cine-
matograph Exhibitors' Association,
who have been trying to stop Eal-
ing Films from selling some of
their old comedies to a commercial
TV contractor in the mistaken be-
lief that this will ruin the cinemas.

Can't the CEA see that one of
the means of financing the large-
scale productions, which are so
necessary for their survival, is for
producers to give old films a new
lease of life and so get a new
source of revenue from the pro-
duct-hungry medium of TV?

In an era when a number of
talented film-makers are debasing
themselves — and insulting their
audiences — with horror and other
X certificate films, it is refreshing
to come across influential enter-
tainers strongly condemning such
catch-penny tactics. In a fine
obituary to Louis B. Mayer the
London Evening News wrote:

" He detested the brutality that
has entered pictures in the last
decade. It made him unhappy
that the public seemed to want
it."
I wonder whether the public
really wants it. Anyway, now here
is Sam Wanamaker, in introducing
his New Shakespeare cinema-
theatre-club-concert-hall in Liver-
pool, saying he will not show films
of violence, horror, science-fiction
and exaggerated sex, nor produc-
tions glorifying war. Bravo ! But
Wanamaker then goes and spoils
it by banning the sale of confec-
tionery in the auditorium. Why put
films that emphasise the unnatural
side of life in the same category as
the very natural, harmless desire to
have a bite to eat or a refreshing
drink?

Spoil Sports

A similar ban mars the excellent
National Film Theatre in London.
I wonder if these spoil-sports
understand the traditional likes of
British audiences. John Hollings-
head, one-time manager of the
Gaiety Theatre, described the
habits of the gallery at the Old
Vic about 1838, which consisted of

" perspiring creatures ; most
of the men in shirt-sleeves,
and most of the women bare-
headed, with coloured handker-
chiefs round their shoulders.
. . . This ' chickaleary ' was
always thirsty — and not
ashamed. It tied handkerchiefs
together — of which it always
seemed to have plenty — until
they formed a rope, which was
used to haul up large stone
bottles of beer from the pit,
and occasionally hats that had
had been dropped below."

But I must not leave the National
Film Theatre on a sour note, be-
cause through their showing the
East German picture Duped Till
Doomsday during the recent Lon-
don Film Festival, I spent many
pleasant hours with its director
Kurt Jung-Alsen, who flew over
specially from Berlin.

We discussed at length the ever-
present problem of where to And
good screen-writers — the acuteness
of this problem in East Germany

(continued on page 166)

166

FILM & TV TECHNICIAN

December 1957

'Take Our Rice

Pudding'

Little do the members of the
great viewing public realise the
blood, toil, tears and sweat which
have gone into the production of
the packshot they briefly glanced
at, while gulping down their tea and
sandwiches before the play they
are waiting to see is due on the
screen. The luscious packs of
chocolates, biscuits, cakes, cigar-
ettes, etc., which click on in casual
perfection, in no way betray the
days of drama that have gone
before in order to get them that
way.

Take our rice pudding for in-
stance.

Our studio had been com-
missioned to do a series of films
advertising a certain brand of this
nourishing food. Following the
cartoon action was to appear a
sizzling pyrex dish of the most
tempting rice pudding man has
ever seen before or since.

Our director's wife kindly brewed
uj) the pudding in her oven, and
the director, with his own hands,
bore the result to the studio next
morning for shooting. Once under
the lights, though, the thing
seemed to pale, as does the com-
plexion of the healthiest actress
when under the unflattering glare

of the arc lamps. A little make-up
was obviously needed.

They dusted the surface tenderly
with a little Shell lubricating oil
and left it during tea-break to

... a little lubricating oil

brown under a powerful bulb.
Even the best cooks are apt to
mistime their confections and when
the model cameraman hurried back
to his work he found his charge
suffering from acute sunburn.

There was nothing for it but to
make another pudd.

CADMUS

i continued)

is made more urgent by the Gov-
ernment's desire to double produc-
tion to some sixty films a year.
One must admire the boldness of
their producers in not taking well-
tried subjects from novels, from
the theatre or from other enter-
tainment media, but in making a
major proportion of pictures from
original screen stories — Hcrr Jung-
Alsen estimated about 90 r ; were
specially written for filming.

Kurt Jung-Alsen talked of the
successful surmounting of many,
but not all, of the problems that
faced the film business In the
German Democratic Republic after
the war, which appeared to me to
be epitomised in the startling
economic achievement of now be-

coming self-supporting. There used
to be a Government subsidy for
producers, but now box-office
takings from home-produced and
foreign pictures pay for the thirty
features East Germany makes an-
nually. With their own films as a
basis they exchange them on a
film-for-film arrangement with
other countries, so building up a
rich variety of international screen
entertainment for the eighteen
million inhabitants of his half of
Germany.

With a population three tunes
that size this gives us hope that
we should be able to put our own
industry on a healthily sound
basis, but before then we shall
need a Declaration of Independence
— from America, ami a few other
of our bonds will have to be
broken !

By this time the director's wife
was showing a tendency to display
her emancipation rights, when
instead of a reply of ' yes. thank
you ' to her query ' Had a good
day at the studio, dear? ' she
heard: 'Just make another rice
pudding this evening, would you ? '

So the stills photographer's
mother took over the job. Still it
didn't look quite as a rice pudding
should to the aesthetic gaze of the
director.

' Rip the skin off ', he demanded,
' it doesn't look anything like a
rice pudding skin.'

' But it is a rice pudding skin ',
said a voice daringly. The owner
was quelled by a terrible glance.

' Rip the skin off and take it over
to the snack bar for re-browning.'
With the sigh of a frustrated
artist, the stills photographer did
as he was bidden.

The snack bar was clever at
dishing out steak and two veg. at
cut price, but when it came to
re-browning rice puddings — — .

The charred remains were
mournfully deposited in the dust-
bin, and the quest for the director's
ideal began all over again.

Tension ran high. By the time
the eighth creation, looking more
or less like a rice pudding in a
pyrex dish, was ready for shoot-
ing, nobody was speaking to any-
body else much. When, during

>Hc

. . . rip that skin off

afternoon tea-break, someone said
jokingly to somebody else: ' Rice
puddings to you', the look he re-
ceived froze him to the marrow.
Usually he is a gentle, kindly man.

Still, it is always darkest before
the light, as some old bore of a
philosopher said, and sure enough
the eighth pudding was a success.
I expected a great shout to go up.
the sort people give when their
horse is first past the winning post,
but no. They all just quietly went
home to supper. I know what they
were thinking, though: 'If it's rice
pudding for afters I'll — .'

Priscilla

Bryant

FILM & TV TECHNICIAN SUPPLEMENT

December 1957

Guide to British Film

STEEL BAYONET

Year of Production : 1956.

Studio: Location Aldershot.

Laboratory: Olympic.

Producing Company: Hammer Film
Productions.

Producer: Michael Carreras.

Associate Producer: Anthony Nelson
Keys.

Stars: Leo Genn, Kieron Moore,
Michael Medwin.

Director: Michael Carreras.

Scenarist: Howard Clewes.

Camera Department: Lighting Camera-
man, Jack Asher; Camera Operator,
Len Harris ; 1st Camera Assistant
(Focus), Harry Oakes; Other Camera
Assistants, Peter Tabori, Stanley
Evans, John Foley; Second Cameia
Operator, Gerald Moss.

Sound Department : Recordist (Mixer),
Cliff Sandall ; Sound Camera Opera-
tor, Walter Day; Boom Operator,
Charles Harris; Dubbing Crew, Anvil
Films.

Art Department: Art Director, Ted
Marshall; Draughtsman, Don Mingay;
Dress Designer, Molly Arbuthnot.

Editing Department: Editor, Bill
Lenny; 1st Assistant, John Beaton;
Other Assistant, Max Wheeler; Dub-
bing Editor, A. E. Cox.

Production Department: Production
Manager and/or Unit Production
Manager, John Workman ; 1st Assis-
tant Director, Don Weeks; 2nd Assis-
tant Director, Stanley Gouler; 3rd
Assistant Director. Hugh Harlow;
Continuity, Rene Glynne; Production
Secretary, Faith Frisby.

Publicity Department: Publicity Direc-
tor, Bill Batchelor.

Stills Department: Still Cameraman,
John Jay.

Special Processes: Frank George, Syd
Pearson; Special Effects, Pinewood.

TIME LOCK

Year of Production: 1956.

Studio: Beaconstield Films Ltd.

Laboratory: Humphries.

Producing Company: Beaconsfield Films
Ltd.

Producer: Peter Rogers.

Stars: Robert Beatty, Lee Patterson.
Betty McDowall.

Director: Gerald Thomas.

Scenarist: Peter Rogers.

Camera Department: Lighting Camera-
man, Peter Hennessy; Camera Opera-
tor, Zeo Rogers; 1st Camera Assistant
(Focus), Paddy A'Hearne; Other
Camera Assistant, Philip Finch.

Sound Department: Recordist (Mixer).
Len Page ; Sound Camera Operator,
George Rice: Boom Operator, Don
Roberts; Other Assistant (Mainten-
ance), Frank Sloggett ; Dubbing Crew,
Anvil Films Ltd.

Art Department: Art Director, Norman
Arnold; Draughtsman, Eric Saw.

Editing Department: Editor, John
Trumper; 1st Assistant, Alan Bell;
Other Assistant, Raymond Lovejov.

Production Department: Production
Manager, John 'Pinky' Green; 1st
Assistant Director, Bob Jones; 2nd
Assistant Director. Jan Saunders;
Continuity. Rita Davison: Production
Secretary, Pauline Chessell.

Publicity Department: Publicity Direc-
tor. Leslie Frewin Organisation.

Stills Department: Still Cameraman.
Tom Belshaw.

Makers

KILL ME TOMORROW

Year of Production : 1956.

Studio: Southall Studios.

Laboratory: Olympic.

Producing Company: Delta Films Ltd.

Producer: Francis A. Searle.

Stars: Pat O'Brien. Lois Maxwell,
Freddie Mills, George Colouris,
Tommy Steele.

Director: Terence Fisher.

Camera Department: Lighting Camera-
man, Geoffrey Faithfull; Camera
Operator, Desmond Davis; 1st Camera
Assistant (Focus), Mani Wynn.

Sound Department: Recordist (Mixer),
Richard Smith; Sound Camera Opera-
tor, Stanley Samworth: Boom Opera-
tor, Anthony Field.

Art Department: Art Director; Bern-
ard Robinson; Draughtsman, David
Butcher.

Editing Department: Editor, Ann
Chegwidden; Assembly Cutter, P.
Blarney.

Production Department: Production
Manager, Tom Connochie; 1st Assis-
tant Director, Chris Noble; Con-
tinuity, Margery Lavelly; Production
Secretary, Pat Moon.

Stills Depart merit: Still Cameraman.
Frank Bellingham.

QUATERMASS II

Year of Production : 1956.

Studio: Danziger Studios.

Laboratory: Olympic.

Producing Company : Hammer Film
Productions.

Producer: Anthony Hinds.

Associate Producer: Anthony Nelson
Keys.

Stars: Brian Donlevy, John Longden,
Vera Day, Sydney James.

Director: Val Guest.

Scenarist: Nigel Kneale.

Camera Department: Lighting Camera-
man, Gerald Gibbs; Camera Operator.
Len Harris; 1st Camera Assistant
(Focus). Harry Oakes; Other Camera
Assistants, A. Gatward.

Sound Department: Recordist (Mixer),
Cliff Sandall; Sound Camera Operator,
Bill Robson; Boom Operator, Claude
Hitchcock; Other Assistants, J. West:
Dubbing Crew, Gate Recording
Theatre.

Art Department: Art Director, Bern-
ard Robinson; Draughtsman, David
Butcher: Dress Designer, Rene Coke.

Editing Department: Editor, James
Needs; 1st Assistant, Michael Hart:
Dubbing Editor, A. E. Cox.

Production Department : Production
Manager and/or Unit Production
Manager: John Workman; 1st Assis-
tant Director, Don Weeks; 2nd Assis-
tant Director, Stan Goulder; 3rd
Assistant Director. Hugh Harlow;
Continuity, June Randall; Produc-
tion Secretary, Angela Taub.

Publicity Department: Publicity Direc-
tor, Bill Batchelor.

Stills Department: Still Cameraman.
John Jay.

Special Processes: Special Effects De-
partment, Pinewood.

CURSE OF FRANKENSTEIN

Year of Production : 1956.

Studio: Bray Studios.

Laboratory : Humphries Labs. Ltd.

Producing Company: Hammer Film
Productions.

Producer: Anthony Hinds.

Associate Producer: Anthony Nelson
Keys.

Stars: Peter Cushing. Hazel Court.
Christopher Lee, Robert Urquhart.

Director: Terry Fisher.

Scenarist: James Sangster.

Camera Department: Lighting Camera-
man, Jack Asher; Camera Operator,
Len Harris; 1st Camera Assistant
(Focus), Harry Oakes; Other Camera
Assistant, John Pratt.

Sound Department: Recordist (Mixer),
W. H. P. May; Sound Camera Opera-
tor, Michael Sale; Boom Opeiator,
Jimmy Perry; Dubbing Crew, Anvil
Films.

Art Department: Production Designer.
Bernard Robinson; Art Director, Ted
Marshall; Draughtsman, Don Mingay;
Dress Designer. Molly Arbuthnot.

Editing Department: ' Editor, James
Needs; 1st Assistant, Roy Norman;
Other Assistant, Max Wheeler.

Production Department: Production
Manager and/or Unit Production
Manager, Don Weeks; 1st Assistant
Director, Derek Whitehurst; 2nd
Assistant Director, Jimmy Komisar-
jevsky; 3rd Assistant Director. Hugh
Harlow: Continuity, Doreen Soan;
Production Secretary, Faith Frisby.

Publicity Department: Publicity Direc-
tor, Leslie Frewin.

Stills Department: Still Cameraman.
John Jay.

Special Processes: Eastmancolour.

MY FRIEND CHARLES

Year of Production: 1957.

Studio: Beaconsfield.

Laboratory: Humphries.

Producing Company : Beaconsfield Films
Ltd.

Producer: Peter Rogers.

Stars: John Mills. Derek Farr. Noelle
Middleton, Ronald Culver. Wilfrid
Hyde White.

Director: Gerald Thomas.

Sceyiarist : Francis Durbridge.

Camera Department : Lighting Camera-
man. Otto Heller; Camera Operator.
Alan Hume; 1st Camera Assistant
(Focus). Brian West; Other Camera
Assistant, Fhilip Finch.

Sound Department: Recordist (Mixer).
Len Page; Sound Camera Operator.
George Price; Boom Operator. Don
Roberts; Other Assistant. Frank
Sloggett (Maintenance); Dubbing
Crew, Anvil Films Ltd.

Art Department : Art Director. Jack
Stevens; Draughtsman. Erie Saw.

Editing Department: Editor. Peter
Boita; 1st Assistant, Mike Round;
Other Assistant, Peter Keen; Dub-
bing Editor. Richard Marden.

Production Department : Production
Manager and/or Unit Production
Manager. Basil Keys; 1st Assistant
Director, William Hill; 2nd Assistant
Director, Bob Jones; Continuity. Rita
Davison; Production Secretary." Paul-
ine Chessell.

Publicity Department: Publicity Direi
tor, Leslie Frewin.

Stills Department: Still Cameraman.
Tom Belshaw.

December 1957

FILM & TV TECHNICIAN SUPPLEMENT

THE SMALLEST SHOW ON

EARTH

Year of Production: 1956/57.

Studio: Shepperton.

Laboratory: Humphries.

Producing Company: Hallmark Pro-
ductions Ltd.

Producer: Michael Relph.

Associate Producer: Leslie Gilliat.

Stars: Virginia McKenna, Bill Travers,
Bernard Miles, Peter Sellers, Mar-
garet Rutherford.

Director: Basil Dearden.

Scenarists : William Rose, John
Eldridge.

Camera Department: Lighting Camera-
man, Douglas Slocombe ; Camera
Operator, Jeff Seaholme; 1st Camera
Assistant (Focus), Paddy A'Hearne;
Other Camera Assistant, Ron Drink-
water.

Sound Department: Recordist (Mixer),
Buster Ambler; Sound Camera Opera-
tor, Jimmy Dooley; Boom Operator,
Ken Ritchie; Other Assistant, Eric
Vincent (Maintenance); Dubbing
Crew, Bob Jones, John Aldred.

Art Department: Art Director, Allan
Harris; Draughtsmen, Roy Walker.
John G. Earl; Dress Designer, An-
thony Mendleson.

Editing Department: Editor, Oswald
Hafenrichter; 1st Assistant, Alban
Streeter; Other Assistants, Eileen
Daines, Alan Corder, Guy Ambler;
Dubbing Editor, Arthur Cox.

Production Department: Production
Manager, John Pellatt ; 1st Assistant
Director, Eddie Pike; 2nd Assistant
Director, John Meadows; 3rd Assis-
tant Director, Claud Watson; Con-
tinuity, Jane Buck; Production Sec-
retary, Jean Williams.

Publicity Department : Publicity Direc-
tor, Robin Grocott.

Stills Department: Still Cameraman,
Norman Hargood.

Special Processes: Wally Veevers,
George Samuels.

LIGHT FINGERS

Year of Production: 1957.

Studio: Walton-on-Thames.

Laboratory : Denham.

Producing Company: Parkside Film

Productions Ltd.
Producer: Roger Proudlock.
Stars: Eunice Gayson, Roland Culver.

Guy Rolfe.

inn ctoi Terry Bishop.

Scenarist: Roger Proudlock.

rami in Department: Lighting Camera-
man, Jimmy Harvey; Camera Opera-
tor, Eric Williams; 1st Camera Assis-
tant (Focus), Mike Wilson; Other
Camera Assistant. Peter Burke.

Sound Department Recordist (Mixer).
H. ('. Pearson; Sound Camera Opera-
tor, I). Gardner; Boom Operator,
C. Humphreys; Maintenance. C.
Barnes; Dubbing Crew, R.C.A. Ham-
mersmith.

Ill / >t inn t mi at Art Director, Tony
Masters; Assistant Art Director,
Draughtsman, Dress Designer — c/o
NettlefnM Studio:

Editing Department: Editor. Lito
Carruthers; 1st Assistant, Bill Creed.

Production Department: Production
Manager, Ben Arbeid ; 1st Assistant
Director, Douglas Hickox; 2nd Assis-
tant Director, John Roddick : 3rd
Assistant Director, Jacques de Lane
Lea; Continuity. Bettj Harley; Pro-
duct ion Sei tet. -it \ . I liana Italian.

Publicity Department Publicitj Direc-
tor, Jack Daw.

stills Department: Still Cameraman,
I touglas Webb.

CAT GIRL

Year of Production: 1957.

Studio: Beaconsfield.

Laboratory: Rank Laboratories (Den-
ham) Ltd.

Producing Compami: Insignia Films
Ltd.

Producer: Herbert Smith.

Executive Producer: Peter Rogers.

Stars: Barbara Shelley, Robert Ayres.
Kay Callard.

Din i tor: Alfred Shaughnessy.

Scenarist: Lou Russoff.

Camera Department: Lighting Camera-
man, Peter Hennessy; Camera Opera-
tor, Paddy A'Hearne; 1st Camera
Assistant, Tommie Fletcher; Other
Camera Assistant, Michael Rutter.

Sound Department: Recordist (Mixer).
Len Page; Sound Camera Operator,
George Rice; Boom Operator, Don
Roberts; Other Assistant, Frank
Sloggett (Maintenance); Dubbing
Crew. Anvil Films Ltd.

Art Department : Production Designer,
Jack Stevens; Art Director, Eric-
Shaw.

Editing Department: Editor, Jocelyn
Jackson; 1st Assistant, Chris Hone;
Other Assistant, Ian Marsden.

Production Department: Production
Manager, Pinky Green; 1st Assistant
Director, William Hill; 2nd Assistant
Director,. Bob Jones; Continuity,
Olga Brookes; Production Secretary,
Cynthia Maugham.

Publicity Department: Publicity Direc-
tor, Philip Ridgeway.

Stills Department: Still Cameraman,
Tom Belshaw.

MIRACLE IN SOHO

Year of Production: 1957.

Studio: Pinewood.

Laboratory: Rank Laboratories (Den-
ham) Ltd.

Producing Company: Rank Organisa-
tion Film Productions Ltd.

Producer: Emeric Pressburger.

Production Controller: Arthur Alcott.

Associate Producer: Sydney Streeter.

Stars : John Gregson, Belinda Lee,
Cyril Cusack.

Director: Julian Amyes.

Scenarist : Emeric Pressburger.

Camera Department: Lighting Camera-
man. Chris Challis; Camera Operator,
Austin Dempster; 1st Camera Assis-
tant (Focus), Steve Claydon; Other
Camera Assistant. Leon Davis.

Soiiiitl Department: Recordist (Mixer),
John W. Mitchell; Sound Camera
Operator, Ron Butcher; Boom
Operator, John Daniel: Boom Assis-
tant. Roy Charman ; Dubbing Crew,
Gordon K. McCallum, J. L. W. Wood-
wiss, C. le Messurier; Music. Ted
Drake.

Art Department: Art Director, Carmen
Dillon; Assistant Art Director (Set),
Vernon Dixon. Draughtsmen. T. Marsh
(Chief), P. Lamont, M. Lamont;

Dress Designer, Julie Harris.

Editing Department: Editor, Arthur
Stevens; 1st Assistant. Jack Gardner;
Other Assistant, Norman Wanslall;
Dubbing Editor. Arthur Ridout ; Dub-
bing Assistant, Graham Harris.

Production Department: Production
Manager. Charles Orme; 1st Assistant
Director, Bob Asher; 2nd Assistant
Director. Charles Hammond; 3rd
Assistant Director, Denzil Lewi.-;
Continuity, Gladys Goldsmith; Assis-
tant Continuity. Loreiev Stephens;
Production Secretary. Jeanette Green

Publicity Department Pnii Publicist,
Jean « isborne.

Stills Department Still Cameraman,
Norman Grys] rdt .

ACCOUNT RENDERED

Year of Production: 1957.

Studio: Southall.

Producing Company: Major Produc-
tions (London) Ltd.

Producer. John Temple-Smith.

Stars: Griffith Jones, Ursula How ell-
Honor Blackman.

Director: Peter Graham Scott.

Camera Department: Lighting Camera-
man, Jimmy Harvey; Camera Opera-
tor. Tony Heller; 1st Camera Assis-
tant (Focus), Peter Sandford.

Sound Department: Recordist (Mixer).
Dick Smith: Sound Camera Operator-.
Harry Tate: Boom Operator, John
Brommage.

Art Department: Art Director, Norman
Arnold; Draughtsman. Thomas Cos-
well.

Editing Department: Editor, Thomas
Simpson.

Production Department: Production
Manager, Donald Wvnne; 1st Assis-
tant Director, Buddy Booth: 2nd
Assistant Director, Jan Saunders;
Continuity, Gladys Reeve; Produc-
tion Secretary, Tfix Wilkin.

Stills Department: Still Cameraman.
Curtis Reekes.

British Transport Films

On all films
Executive Producer: Edgar Anstey.
Product ion Manager: Len Girdlestone.
Assistant Production Manager: Ruth
Pratt.

NORTH TO WALES

Technicolor from Kodachrome
15 minutes

Producer: Ian Ferguson.

Director: Michael Clarke.

Cameramen: Reg Hughes, Michael
Currer-Briggs.

Editor: Margot Fleischner.

Assistant Director: Paul Khan.

Assistant Cameramen: David Watkin,
John Mantell.

Assistant Editor: Pat Jones.

Commentary written In/ Norman Prout-
ing.

Commentary spoken by Meredith Ed-
wards.

Music composed by Edward Williams.

Recording : Anvil Films.

ROUND THE ISLAND

Technicolor from Kodachrome
24 minutes

I'rtitlu, t i Ian Ferguson.
Director: Tony Thompson.
Cameraman: Ron Craigen.
Editor: John Legard.
Assistant Director Edward Scott.
Assistant Cairn raman : Lewis McLeod.
Assistant Editor: David Plumb.
Commentary written by Norman Prout-

ing.
Commentary spoken by Ralph Wight

man, Uffa Fox.
Music composed by Hubert Clifford.
Recording: Anvil Films.

WHY BOTHER?

5 minutes

Product r Stewart McAllistei
Director: Tony Thompson.
Cameraman: David Watkin.

Editors: Stewart McAllister. Adrian de

Potier.
Assistant Cameraman: Jack West
Assistant Editor: Rosina Pedrick.
Writti a by Paul Le Saux.
Spoken tiu Harry Locke, John Warren
Bi i ording Anvil Films.

December 1957

FILM & TV TECHNICIAN

167

ON BEING DEDICATED
TO FILMS

I HAVE been dedicated to films
practically all my grown-up life.
I threw in my lot with the cinema
in its comparatively early days,
when pay was low and one had to
fight alone against snobs and
Philistines for the recognition of
this new art.

The cinema then was not only
ignored or even despised by the
intelligentsia, but Wardour Street
and the studio chiefs were distrust-
ful of workers whom they regarded
as "educated". (How different
things became in this respect some
years later when at certain studios
one could hardly get a job without
an Old Etonian tie and a university
education — though, as an alterna-
tive, titled relatives would help
more than somewhat!)

Pioneers

Shortly after I had committed
myself to films, there was quite a
flow of dedicated men into our
studios. That was in the mid-
twenties, when the first Film
Society was formed, when we were
fighting for the first Film Quota
legislation (with its vital require-
ment for Renters to sponsor a
quota of British productions) and
when Ivor Montagu and I were
active with our film-editing com-
pany, supplying British studios
with our hand-picked colleagues,
all of whom were dedicated
pioneers and included such men
as Ian Dalrymple, Frank Wells,
Angus MacPhail, Jock Orton, Tod
Rich, Michael Hankinson and
Sergei Nolbandov.

Even in those days, I realised
that there were degrees of dedica-
tion and that one could give one's
devotion to films in different ways.
Some of my associates lived en-
tirely in a world of films, going to
see movies every night, travelling
considerable distances to track
down a film they had missed,
noting cinematic tricks and
dramatic twists, and storing their
impressions for future use.

Although the enthusiasm of these
devotees was inspiring and their
knowledge of trends and experi-
ments in film production kept us
informed, their suggestions at
work were derived from other
films, rather than from life. I am
reminded of William Archer's

advice to playwrights, " Let your
inspiration come from life, not
from the theatre."

This is a risk we also run when
we get in the swim as directors,
associate-producers, script-writers
and others in important key posi-

ADRIAN
BR UN EL

tions, and we become involved in a
succession of first nights, film
parties, Savoy Grill suppers,
Caprice luncheons and mixing only
with other people in the show
business, dashing from studios to
these occasions in our fast cars
and losing touch with the realities

Adrian Brunei with his l!tl!) model
Debrie camera

of life, which is regrettable since
these people set the tone for our
productions.

There are many ways in which
one can be dedicated to films.
There is the careerist, whose
medium is film. He is often some-
what more dedicated to himself
than to the cinema and is generally
a diplomat, a good mixer with
important but inferior people and
a ruthless handler of his financial
backers, yet in many cases he is

an asset to films and the best of
this category are amongst the
world's outstanding movie-makers.
Many film technicians are dedi-
cated men and women — until ambi-
tion leads them to become direc-
tors ! While they were good or
very good script-writers, camera-
men, art-directors or editors, for
example, they were dedicated to
their chosen tasks as well as to the
cinema and were creative film-
makers in production teams, even
though individualists.

Then the glamour of being head-
man on the studio floor or the
inner conviction that they could do
better than the welder-in-chief with
whom they worked, gets hold of
them. Occasionally their hunch is
right and their change of position
is justified, but too often they lack
something, such as a forcefulness
in their dealings with their War-
dour Street bosses, and so, in the
battle for assignments and treat-
ments, they temporise, their dedi-
cated and missionary principles
dwindle and they end up cynical
and disillusioned hacks, and as a
result we lose keen and first-rate
writers, cameramen, art-directors
or editors.

" Don't Lose Touch "

it is because I have seen this
happen that I have begged such
friends of mine when embarking on
careers as directors not to lose
touch with their old techniques, so
that if they are not the successes
they hoped to be as directors, they
could still maintain pride of
achievement in their previous jobs
and thus remain dedicated to films,
instead of becoming cynical and
disillusioned.

I am reminded of my own experi-
ence. As a director I was always
thoroughly at home in the job,
working with artists and techni-
cians, but I was not tough enough
in the constant battle with my
employers. I would have been far
happier had I kept in touch with
the market for editors, alternating
assignments to direct with those
to edit. I would have been more
successful, too, if I had pursued
such a policy, for I never reached
a position where I could pick and
choose my stories or my employers;

(continued on page 168)

His

FILM & TV TECHNICIAN

December 1957

Profile

DESMOND DAVIS

"DHYSICALLY he is a squarish,
•*- saturnine near-fifty with a dis-
tinguished head of immaculate
iron-grey hair. Psychologically he
is a disciplined rebel, an optimist,
and an enthusiast for the good
things of life. The facts behind
the man are legion and illuminat-
ing; a BBC staff television pro-
ducer in 1938; one of the founders
and now chairman of the Guild
of Television Producers and
Directors; first A.C.T.T. television
Vice-President and television Exe-
cutive Council member; first Head
of Drama for A.T.V.; and producer
of more television plays than he
can count.

The man behind the facts is
more elusive, and frequently con-
tradictory; he is a meticulous,
painstaking craftsman who plans
his productions with an accuracy
that prevents much of the scurried
panic that is so common a feature
of a television studio, and yet he
has a ready and biting sense of

(TV VICE-PRESIDKNT)

humour that can turn as often
against himself as against other
people; his practical enthusiasm
for the Guild and for the union is
evidenced by the number of com-
mittees he serves on, and the
amount of time he spends away
from home and office, and yet he
hates politics and is a devoted
family man, proud father of two
daughters; he is a keen fighter for
freedom — particularly his own —
which is why, having escaped from
the tentacles of the BBC and re-
signed a top administrative posi-
tion with ATV, he now insists on
remaining a completely free free-
lance producer.

Felt the Call

Desmond Davis started his
career as an engineer but soon felt
the siren call of the entertainment
industry and spent his apprentice
years acting and stage-managing,
notably for Basil Dean, and for
Sir Nigel Playfair at the Lyric
Theatre, Hammersmith, where he
gained the musical experience
which in October 1939 led the
BBC to transfer him to the Music
Productions of sound radio where
he wrote, adapted and produced
musical shows, operas and
operettas.

After the war, even before he
was officially demobilised from the

On being dedicated to films

( continued)

the inexorable demands of land-
lords and household expenses
usually landed me an assignment
that at its best was a challenge to
disguise and gild a piece of tripe.
to quote Anita Loos. My main
comfort is, however, that I never
lost my faith in the cinema, for
films had become an ineradicable
" religion " and an obstinate
" patriotism " with me.

Although I have stressed the
importance of keeping closely in
touch with real life and with people
of all kinds. 1 maintain that one
who would claim to be dedicated

to the cinema should make sacri-
fices in its cause. An obvious
sacrifice is active participation in
Union affairs, together with addi-
tional political agitation for the
protection of our film production
industry — such as pestering M.P.s
and newspapers with personal
letters. Not so much of a sacrifice,
but rather a pleasurable duty, is
to support such institutions as the
British Film Institute, the British
Film Academy, the National Film
Theatre and one's local Film
Society.

And finally, a personal sugges-
tion for your home — collect things
of interest connected with films,
such as books, stills, programmes
and even apparatus!

army, he was again producing tele-
vision shows and, when American
television started, he was sent for
to advise and lecture on television
production methods. Back in this
country he helped to pioneer the
High Definition system of film
making under Norman Collins.

It is this breadth of experience
in several media that is his parti-
cular strength. His basic training
in the theatre and in the control of
actors has ensured that he is
equally at home in theatre, radio,
television and film. As a director,
Davis is a dedicated man, satisfied
only with the best, and demand-
ing just that, whether it is from
actor, writer, stage-hand, camera-
man, management or, above all,
himself.

He will work long hours, fre-
quently deep into the night, ironing
out every little kink and detail
for a forthcoming production. His
method with actors is to cajole
and explain rather than to
dominate, and any really important
point is worked out over a drink
in a nearby pub. Here he is at his
best, a fluent talker and raconteur
who, when his particular interest
is aroused, will tend to dominate
any conversation, not from selfish
reasons, but by the sheer weight
of his enthusiasm.

Against Diets

A conservative in the best, and
least political sense of the word,
he is on the side of civilisation-
particularly a classical civilisation,
and strongly deprecates the inven-
tion of the internal combustion
engine. He is for Georgian archi-
tecture and against modern flats;
he is a wine drinker and a gourmet,
and against cocktails and diets
and pill-taking; he would inevit-
ably be against television were it
not his chosen profession. This
being so he brings to this new-
fangled entertainment process all
the passionate absorbed concentra-
tion of love and attention that an
old-time actor-manager would give
to his theatre.

Vivian

Mihoy

December 1957

FILM & TV TECHNICIAN

169

PROBLEMS OF THE
NEWSREELS

CINCE the close down of Para-
^ mount News earlier in the year
there has been considerable com-
ment in the industry about the
future of the remaining cinema
newsreels. Most people have adop-
ted a pessimistic attitude and on
the face of it with some justifica-
tion. There is no doubt that the
newsreels in their present form are
no longer in the fairly strong posi-
tion they were about ten years ago.

The usual reason advanced, of
course, is that it is because of the
rise of television news. This is not
altogether true. From the point of
" up to dateness " in news, the
cinema newsreels, for obvious
reasons, have never tried to com-
pete with television newsreels any
more than television itself has
seriously tried to compete with
news broadcasts on sound radio.

They would disagree

Some of my TV colleagues would
strongly disagree with this. The
tendency among international TV
networks is to get their news pic-
tures out, if not by hours, by
minutes ahead of their rivals. But
in this country, between B.B.C. and
I.T.N., the emphasis is gradually
shifting to the presentation of
news.

This brings us back to the
cinema newsreels. They are de-
signed to form part of a cinema
programme. They have been hit
financially for more or less the
same reasons that cinemas have
been hit. A lot of people are con-
vinced that the cinema industry
was fundamentally wrong in the
way it handled the rise of televi-
sion. First, it pretended that TV
did not exist; secondly, that it was
not much good as an entertain-
ment medium, and thirdly, that it
would not last.

It is not the purpose of this
article to discuss what should have
been done or what steps are now
being taken within the industry,
but the newsreel companies, to a
very large extent, identified them-
selves with this attitude of the
exhibitors. True, they did not have
much option, but now with the
falling of box-office takings and
the closing down of cinemas them-

by
TERRY O'BRIEN

selves, they are financially badly
hit.

There is a definite resistance on
the part of exhibitors to show a

This Freedom

One of our members writes :

We Tories recently encour-
aged the G.P.O. to increase
the telephone charges. Thus
the demand for telephones
has decreased or, to put it
more positively, UNDER
THE TORIES THE SUPPLY
OF TELEPHONES HAS IN-
CREASED.

The direct result of this
businesslike policy is my
telephone: the number is .

We (the Tories) are busy
organising a slump, or, again
more positively, increasing
the supply of labour. If it is
my labour that is increased
and in case you hear of
something at which I might
earn a crust, please make a
note of my number.

TORY FREEDOM PAYS!

newsreel. The excuse is usually
that it costs too much for the pro-
gramme time involved, and in any
case, " everybody has seen it on
television already ". The cost of
producing a newsreel has, without
any doubt, risen enormously, and
revenue has not kept pace. How
these losses are offset by the parent
companies of the newsreels or by
other methods is something we
cannot go into here.

However, within newsreel circles
the talking point is "presentation".
Pathe News are now, from time to
time, devoting the entire reel to

some controversial topic of news
or to some news story which war-
rants a longer pictorial presenta-
tion than would normally be given.

It has been reported that Movie-
tone, later next year, may be pro-
ducing a black-and-white Cinema-
Scope reel. The Rank Organisation
is considerably developing along
certain lines and how G.B. News
will fit in is, at the moment, purely
guesswork.

Obviously, considerable re-think-
ing on presentation will have to be
made. The formula which has been
in existence for nearly thirty years
will be inadequate. Have we the
people in the newsreels who are
capable of producing a new style
of reel, or are they so inbred that
they have got into a rut? Can the
newsreels risk the financial cost of
experimenting or will they just
fade away?

Finest in industry

Our newsreel technicians are
among the finest in the industry.
Not only have the cameramen to
be technically proficient under all
kinds of difficult conditions, but
they must be first-class journalists
as well in order to provide a com-
plete pictorial report of a news
event to editors who only have a
few hours to sort out the material
and present it in a comprehensible
form. It is a wonder that there are
any pictures at all ! The standards,
efficiency and discipline are there
— what are we going to do with
them ?

This article is necessarily brief.
It would be impossible to go into
the problem in detail, nor is it
called for. It's purpose is to pro-
vide a fairly informative back-
ground to any discussion our mem-
bers may have.

That dog again 1

". . . in between the big debates,
Conference found time to flay the
present Government for its present
economic and financial policy, in-
cluding raising the Bark Ftate."-
Misprint in George Elvm's report
on the Labour Party Conference.

170

FILM & TV TECHNICIAN

December IBS'*

Book Review

CHINA TRANSFORMED

NEXT STOP — PEKING, by R. J. about production and trade, will be

Minney. Newnes, 25/-.

Members had a glimpse of R. J.
Minney's visit to China when he
wrote on their film industry in

disappointed. That is true in a
way because it is not that kind of
a book. But he does much better
than that because, in a live, fas-
cinating personal record of his

ample, which were a curse of old
China :

" The next morning, while Len-
nox* and I sat talking in his room,
we saw our first fly in China. We
had not been forty-eight hours in
the country. The fly crawled along
Lennox's desk, stopped, saluted us
cheekily with both front feet and
trotted on gaily. We leapt out of
our chairs to have a closer look.
The fly stopped again and stared
defiantly . . . Undoubtedly it was an
event. Here at any rate was one
fly . . In all, during the entire
period of our stay, we saw eight
flies in various part of China. The
tally was carefully kept."

Then he tells us how, with the
help of Street Committees sanita-
tion has been organised and clean-
liness imposed, resulting in the
virtual extermination of flies and
other insect pests as one of the
results of the exercise.

In such fascinating ways " R.J."
pictures the new China; the
awakening of a giant, as he des-
cribes it, with vast agricultural
and industrial development, rising
living standards, and a people
happy and imbued with hope.

Not only have I been thrilled by
Next Stop — Peking, it has left me

Above: One of (he Rates of the Walled City, Peking.

Bight: K. J. Mi

film & TV technician some months
ago. Now in Next Stop — Peking
he tells the whole exciting story of
his trip to lecture in Peking and
elsewhere at Bernard Shaw Cen-
tenary Celebrations. Also, as be-
hoves a good film man, he illus-
trates his book for good measure
with numerous colour and mono-
chrome photographs taken by him-
self.

My first reaction on reading the
book is to wish that R. J. Minney
could be appointed perpetual sec-
retary to the numerous delegations
which visit Russia, China and
Eastern Europe and return home
with reports which are frequently
as indigestible as they are statisti-
cal.

in his preface "R.J." says that
those who expect a political treat-
ise, with comparative statistic

nney in Peking.
Cover still

shows the

tilming of an
opera in
colour in
Shanghai.

16,000 mile journey through Rus-
sia, Siberia and China, he conveys
to us the transformation which is
happening in those countries, par-
ticularly China, much more vividly
than most travellers have done
using the more traditional report-
ing-back methods.

But let " R.J." speak for himself.
On disease-carrving flies, for ex-

itching, as I know it will other
readers, to travel the same route
and see for myself the rapid and
beneficial strides being made
along the road to accomplish one
of the supreme achievements of
the present-day world. q h E

• Lennox the Irish play-

wright, was " U.J.'s " colleague on

the trip.

December 1957

FILM & TV TECHNICIAN

171

FILM MANUFACTURE IN EAST

KEN ROBERTS, Secretary of the Kodak employees'

A.C.T.T. Branch, describes his visits to the Agfa

and Dekopan factories

GERMANY

TOURING a recent stay in
U Eastern Germany, I eagerly
accepted an invitation from the
East German Chemical Workers'
Union to visit the raw film manu-
facturing plants of Agfa and
Dekopan.

The State-controlled Agfa works
is situated at Wolfen, in a greenish
area about thirty miles from
Leipzig. It is indeed an astonish-
ingly large plant employing over
15,000 workers of whom 60% are
employed on film and sensitised
goods production and 409f on the
manufacture of rayon, artificial
silk, chemicals and magnetic tapes.

Dressed in White

Before commencing my exten-
sive tour accompanied by the
factory manager, interpreter and
officials of the Chemical Union, I
was dressed from head to foot in
white protective clothing, which is
the usual precaution taken when
entering workrooms where sen-
sitising is taking place; this helps
to prevent dust contamination on
the film emulsion surfaces.

At my own request the pro-
gramme was concentrated round
the actual making of the raw film
base, the viewing of the emulsion
coating machines, the spooling
sections, melting departments, etc.,
in fact, all the processes which are
essential in making it possible to
put that treasured roll of film in
the technician's camera.

I was shown everything I
wanted to see with the greatest
friendliness and readiness. During
discussion I learnt that the Agfa
works emerged from the last war
almost undamaged, all the
machinery and technical installa-
tions were unscathed, making it
possible to start production im-
mediately after the end of hos-
tilities.

Seemingly a great obstacle to
the competitive capacity of Agfa
in the world market was the com-
pulsory release of all their patents
and processing methods. However,
I saw for myself that today they
are working to full capacity. The
working week generally is 44
hours.

In the main departments, a
round-the-clock, three-shift system
is worked, consisting of eight
hours per shift.

Numerous grades, positive, nega-
tive, colour and X-ray are being
produced for internal consumption
and for export. Ninety-nine per
cent of production, I learnt, is now
on safety film base.

It was pointed out to me how in
pre-war days, under the economics
of private ownership, thousands of
pounds were often spent and
countless man-hours invested, in
an attempt to discover a process
or a production method which
another local film competitor had
already discovered. Constant

antagonism between companies
existed. But today, I was informed,
in Eastern Germany all film com-
panies pool their ideas and ex-
change personnel and experiences.
Joint meetings are held, too, be-
tween German, Russian, Czecho-
slovakian and other film workers.
This has tremendously minimised
raw film defects, overcome produc-
tion bottlenecks and has revolu-
tionised methods. Industrial
secrets are shared, full co-opera-
tion is the motto.

Advanced Techniques

This united co-ordination has not
meant a destruction of the com-
petitive spirit, or a stagnation in
production. On the contrary, it
seems to have had the opposite
effect. My attention was drawn
to the high degree of mechanisa-
tion, with the most advanced
techniques I have ever witnessed.
I observed by the speed of the
machines and the intelligent team
work, that even under darkroom
conditions there was extremely
high productivity, without signs of
sweated labour.

As a trade unionist, I of course
took interest in the activities of
the factory union. Membership of
the Chemical Workers' Union,
which caters for all Agfa workers,
is voluntary. There is no closed
shop.

I was told that the main duties
of the union were to deal with

items appertaining to the welfare
of the workers, among them being
wages, social insurance, safety
measures, etc. From what I saw
and heard it is not failing in its
job. Wages by present East Ger-

Ken Roberts at Agfa Factory

man standards are good. Every
kind of factory amenity one could
wish for is available, canteens,
children's nurseries, dental treat-
ment, X-ray units, and excellent
medical facilities.

I was assured that dermatitis
which can arise from the handling
of chemicals, raw emulsions, etc.,
is extremely rare owing to pro-
tective measures which are in
operation.

At the Dekopan film works at
Kopenick, East Berlin (prior to
1945 this plant was owned by
Kodak Ltd.), over 1,000 workers
are employed. It suffered substan-
tial damage during the war but is
now fully reconstructed with new
extensions. It produces its own
film base.

Owing to space I must sum up
my impressions in a few words.
Work conditions and amenities, in
common with Agfa, are first rate.
Modern perfected darkroom tech-
niques exist. A recent achievement
by Dekopan is the development of

(continued on page 172)

172

FILM & TV TECHNICIAN

December 1957

Organisers' Page

WE GET AGREEMENT

C'MPLOYERS in the Film In-
^ dustry as an almost invariable
rule honour the agreements, but
recently a case arose of a girl who
was given one week's notice in-
stead of the customary two. On
approaching the employer we were
told that as she was not a member
it was not our concern. It had to
be pointed out that no one can be
employed at conditions less favour-
able than those laid down. It is
fair to add that the two weeks'
notice was given.

In another case it was brought
to our notice that a member had
not received the latest increase, on
the plea that he had received a
merit award just prior to the date
of the award. The management
did not feel that a further advance
was justified, but it is pleasing to
note that after eleven weeks the
advance was paid with retrospec-
tive respect.

JIM CAMPBELL

The tragic death of Jim
Campbell, General Secretary of the
N.U.R., in a car accident has
robbed the labour movement of a
great figure. As a former railway
worker although not a member of

East Germany

( continued)

a yellow-based X-ray film giving a
clearer definition than the familiar
black and white type. This has
been acclaimed as the X-ray film
with a future. Output of film and
printing papers for still photo-
graphy seemed to be one of their
specialities.

If I am asked my deepest im-
pression of the East German film
workers, my answer would be, first
their enthusiasm, and second, their
sense of ownership of their fac-
tories.

In conclusion, I am indebted to
the Agfa and Dekopan Manage-
ments for their generous hos-
pitality and particularly to the
officials of the East German
Chemical Workers' Union, who
went to great lengths to make my
visit pleasant, instructive and en-
joyable

HONOURED

the N.U.R., I would like briefly to
pay a tribute to a man of out-
standing integrity and humanity.
Not a brilliant orator, he spoke
with such sincerity and argued
with the B.T.C. the case for the
railwaymen with a real under-
standing and genuine feeling. Jim
Campbell will be missed, not only
by railwaymen, but by all people in
the organised Trade Union move-
ment.

Recently a Probationary mem-
ber submitted an application for
full membership; the shop
steward's comment is worthy of
reproduction: " It is my considered
opinion," he wrote, " that the
above-named sponsors are either
lying in their teeth or have been
bought. Mr. X ... is a monarchist,
a reactionary and a religious
fanatic. He has brought disaster
and chaos upon every picture on
which he has worked. He is sworn
to smash the Union by internal
erosion. He demoralises all who
work with him, grinds the faces
of those below him into the mud of
our car-park and gives succour
and encouragement to our tyran-
nical capitalist masters.

" If your honours are prepared
to ignore these several points,
though, I have no hesitation in
recommending that his application
be accepted so that he may take
his rightful place with the rest of
us rogues. — — , Shop Steward."

The member who very sportingly
sent along this high commenda-
tion with the form made this com-
ment: " Concerning the Shop
Steward's remarks, I feel he is a
member of the wrong Union, I
think he ought to belong to Equity
like any other comedian."

Fred Tonge

"A member should carry not
only a Union card in his pocket
I ut Trade Unionism in his heart."

Walter Reuther, U.S.A. delegate
to the T.U.C.

Beaconsfield Films

FREDERICK OUGHTON, who
has been elected Journal corres-
pondent at Beaconsfield Studios,

writes:

" A meeting was called recently
for the purpose of clarifying issues
arising out of reports in the trade
press to the effect that Julian
Wintle had done a deal and bought
the studio. This affected many of
our members who had been at
Beaconsfield since the Group Three
days. They felt that the new
owners, Beaconsfield Films Ltd.,
had come to the studio with great
ideas but could not now live up to
them.

" I said that I had received
reassurances from the Board of
Directors, with whom I had had
several meetings, that Mr. Wintle
would keep on the existing techni-
cians and crews, though this was
strictly a gentleman's agreement
and a verbal one.

Disappointment

" Several questions were asked,
and some members expressed their
disappointment that Peter Rogers,
Managing Director of Beaconsfield
Films Ltd., had decided to make
features elsewhere. In many ways
this marked the disintegration of
what they thought was a good
team. Mr. Rogers' position was
that he desired to make large-scale
features on location, using such
studio space in Britain as may be
available in the future.

" His position was now compli-
cated by the advent of the tele-
series, Ivanhoe, which was occupy-
ing the main stage and would con-
tinue to do so until early next year.
This cut both ways : the Beacons-
field technicians and general staff
would continue until Ivanhoe came
to an end and there was the chance
of another long-range job being
put on the floor, though no details
wore available at the moment.

" The meeting was held under
the chairmanship of Herbert Smith
with Les Gray as secretary."

Priestley Judgment

"... a great deal of nonsense
comes out of TV sets. But a good
deal of sense comes out of them,
too, probably far more than most
elderly lawyers imagine. And after
all, much the same can be said of
judges. A great deal of sense
comes out of them, and so does a
good deal of nonsense." — J. B.
Priestlei/ in Retinoid* Y< ictt.

December 1957

FILM & TV TECHNICIAN

173

Films in the Service of Industry

MAX ANDERSON REPORTS ON THE HARROGATE FESTIVAL

THE Harrogate Festival was the
first opportunity ever for spon-
sors, producers and users of films
for industry to meet, show one
another their wares and discuss
common problems. Among the 500
or so attending were representa-
tives from practically every pro-
duction unit, from many official
and other public bodies, from all
the country's major industries and
many of the lesser ones, and from
several overseas companies.

Other than ourselves, there were
only four Trades Union delegates,
from the T.U.C., E.T.U., NATKE
and the Union of Post Office
Workers. Officials of the National
Union of General and Municipal
Workers and the T.U.C. were
among the speakers and the latter
body was represented on the Coun-
cil of the Festival and on various
sub-committees. Of course, nearly
all the delegates from the pro-
ducing side were A.C.T.T. mem-
bers.

Wide Range of Subjects

Of some 330 films submitted, 131
had been selected for exhibition.
They carried the credits of 60
separate units, and carried a wide
range of subject matter, purpose
and treatment and cost. In each
of the ten categories into which
they were divided, there were two
awards to be won, and a list of the
winners appears at the end of this
report.

Incidentally, it is a sad comment
on the position of scientific train-
ing and recruitment in British in-
dustry that there were compara-
tively few entries under the head-
ing " For Use in Schools " and
" Guidance on Careers " and that
in these categories and that of
" Technical and Technological "
the juries found no film worthy of
a second prize.

Lord Mancroft, in a lively speech
opening the Festival, had firmly
suggested that " film making
should be left to the professionals"
and this advice was repeated by
several subsequent speakers. There
were, in fact, besides the work of
contracting companies, and of full-
time " internal units ", some ten
films on view produced for indus-
trial firms by their own regular
staff. When available finance is
small and intended audiences very
limited, such productions may well
be considered as complementary
to, rather than in competition

with, the work of professional
technicians. Nevertheless, it will
be interesting to watch the de-
velopment of the move by Colour
Film Services Ltd., to sponsor an
association of bodies engaging in
this sort of activity.

Discussion Sessions

The discussions sessions were
perhaps the most difficult part of
the proceedings to assess. The
subjects chosen ("Productivity",
" Public Relations ", " Technical
Education ", " Sales — Home and
Overseas ", " Health and Safety ",
" Job Training " and " Distribu-
tion") were in themselves interest-
ing and important but offered too
wide a scope to be dealt with ade-
quately in a couple of hours, and
this problem was accentuated by
the number of platform speakers —
usually four — at each session and
by the restriction of the floor to
questions rather than discussion.

As a result, while the general
exchange of views and information
was useful, it was rare for any
single point to be pursued to a
satisfactory conclusion.

Difficult to Assess

One of the primary objects of
the Festival, of course, was to
spread the gospel of the film to
sectors of the industry which have
so far made little or no use of the
medium. On this point, too, the
results are difficult to assess with-
out fuller knowledge of the
interests represented, but it is
obviously, in any case, not a short-
term matter, and the very fact
that a co-ordinated attempt has
been made on the problem is itself
a hopeful sign.

At the close of the proceedings,
delegates were asked for their
views on whether the occasion
should be repeated. It is our view
that if the inevitable teething
troubles mentioned above can be
overcome, the event should become
one of positive value to the
specialised side of film making.

The Winning Films

PUBLIC RELATIONS AND PRESTIGE

1st Prize: Oil Harbour — Aden

World Wide Pictures for George

Wimpey & Co. Ltd.
Producer: James Carr. Director:

Derek Williams.

Honourable Mention: Atlantic hint;

Technical and Scientific Films for
Central Office of Information

Producer/Director: Jack Green-
wood. Director of Photography:
John Wiles.

SALES PROMOTION

1st Prize: Introducing Telex

R.H.R. Productions for Creed & Co.

Ltd.
Producer: Ronald H. Riley. Direc-
tor: Richard Tambling.
Honourable Mention: Pipeline into
Persia
Greenpark Productions for Costain-

John Brown Ltd.
Producer: Humphrey Swingler.
Director / Cameraman: Roland
Stafford.

TRAINING INSIDE INDUSTRY

1st Prize: Successful Instruction

R.H.R. Productions for Army

Kinema Corporation.
Producer: Ronald H. Riley. Direc-
tor: David Villiers.
Honourable Mention: Safe Transit
Pilot Films for British Transport
Commission.
TECHNICAL AND TECHNOLOGICAL
1st Prize: High Speed Flight — Ap-
proaching the Speed of Sound
Shell Film Unit for Shell Petroleum

Co. Ltd.
Production Consultants: Film Cen-
tre, London. Director: Peter de
Normanville.

FOR USE IN SCHOOLS

1st Prize: Mirror in the Sky

Realist Film Unit for Milliard Ltd.
and Educational Foundation for
Visual Aids.
Producer: Basil Wright. Director:
Alex Strasser.
SALES AND DEALER TRAINING
1st Prize: Golden Minutes

United Motion Pictures for Wolf

Electric Tools Ltd.
Producer: J. J. Sheppard. Direc-
tor: Forbes Taylor.
Honourable Mention: Demonstrational
Selling
Harold Goodwin for the Gas
Council.
HEALTH & SAFETY IN INDUSTRY
First Prize: Don't be a Dummy

Verity Films for Central Electricity

Authority.
Producer: O. Skilbeck. Director:
J. Mendoza.
Honourable Mention: Criticality

Film Producers' Guild for U.K.

Atomic Energy Authority.
Producer: G. Buckland - Smith.
Director: Bill Pollard.
CAREERS IN INDUSTRY
1st Prize : Golden Future

World Wide Pictures with Film
Centre for Transvaal and Orange
Free State Chamber of Mines.
Producer: James Carr. Director:

Julian Spiro.
INDUSTRIAL PRODUCTIVITY
1st Prize: Introducing Work Study
World Wide Pictures for British

Productivity Council.
Producer: Hindle Edgar. Director:
Clifford Parris.
Honourable Mention: Think of the
Future
Halas and Batchelor Films for
European Productivity Agency
with Central Office of Information.
Producer /Direct or: John Halas.

(continued on page 174)

174

FILM & TV TECHNICIAN

December 1957

MEMBERS SCREEN
CREDITS

Derek Whitehurst informs us
that owing to an error on the part
of the producers he did not receive
the screen credits due to him as
assistant director of Inside Infor-
mation and The Case of the
Smiling Widow in the Scotland
Yard series made by Anglo-Amal-
gamated at Merton Park Studios.

The credits were inadvertently
given to a previous assistant
director.

Derek Whitehouse took the
matter up with the production
company who apologised and con-
tacted A.C.T.T. in order to give the
Union the correct credit informa-
tion.

UNITY THEATRE

Fred Tonge represented A.C.T.T.
at a conference which was con-
vened to attempt to work out plans
for securing better support for
Unity Theatre.

There was an attendance of
about sixty representing the Trade
Unions, Political Parties, Co-
operative Organisations and
others.

Two suggestions were made for
improving the liaison between the
Theatre and the Labour Move-
ment:

1. A ))( -rmntu nt advisory committee
consisting of representatives of the
I in.i, Unions and Political Parties,
with Co-ops, etc.

2. Committee to meet at the start of
each production to give pul>licitii

Hi i mn/liiiiit /In Limdon Lalxnu
and Trade Union movement.

An appeal was made for more
affiliations, to which the General
Council has responded by affiliat-
ing A.C.T.T. to Unity.

Lab Topics
DEATH OF BRIAN BOLT

Winning Films

{Continued)

Honourable Mention: Mechanisation of
i.ir, stO( I. Farm ing
Kandom Film I 'i odu< t ions for Shell-
Mi \ and B.P. Ltd.

I'i -inlm-ei Direelor Pel el Mills.
Ill M\\ KKI.ATIONS IN INDUSTRY

1st Prize Mi a mi tin Mi nd

British Transom! Films for British

Transport Commission
I 'i odui « i Edgar Anstey. Direi
tor: Kenneth Fairbairn.
Honourable Mention: llemel Homestead
Dexion Film Unit for Dexion I i
Producer: Dr. Peter Cardew.
I lirector [an MacPhail.

W/E very much regret to

" announce the death of Brian

Bolt in New Cross Hospital on
October 18th.

Fred Cull, Shop Steward at Pathe,
Wardour Street, writes:

Brian Bolt was a very likeable
personality who, through his un-
failing friendliness to everyone
was a popular member of the
Printing Room staff. He was only
twenty-four and he leaves a widow
and a daughter some two years
old.

About eighteen months ago
Brian contracted a serious illness
and from that time onwards there
began an unequal fight against
failing health. Periods in hospital
and attendances as an out-patient,
interspersed with spells at work,
stamped him as a fighter. Even
when obviously extremely ill he
still managed to laugh and joke
about his misfortune.

THE ANNUAL REUNION

of the

CROWN FILM UNIT

will be held on
FRIDAY evening, DEC. 20th,

at the

"NAG'S HEAD," COVENT

GARDEN

He joined Pathe as a trainee,
and, apart from two years in the
R.A.F., he had worked con-
tinuously for the firm, both in
Wardour Street and at Elstree.

Prior to his illness he had been
very fond of sport, playing both
football and cricket, and he was
seldom, if ever, absent from a
social function.

For a time he acted as Branch
Secretary and also as a member
of the Branch A.C.T.T. Committee.

Brian, who will be sadly missed
by us all, was buried in Crayford
Parish Churchyard. Among those
who attended the funeral were
Charlie Day, Bill Newman and
Fred Cull from Pathe.

Alec Garnett III

We regret to announce that Alec
Garnett, of Kays, and formerly of
Technicolor, has been ill in hospital
for over two months. We wish
him a speedy recovery.

Gay and Cynical

" I see from the programmes of
the new National Film Theatre
that someone has dreamed up a
new movement — 'Captive Cinema'.
At last the film makers of England
have a banner to which they can
rally with a clear conscience.''
Lindsay Anderson in the .Ye if
SI a 1 1 stna/n.

OFFICIAL APPOINTMENT

LABORATORY SUPERINTENDENT (Film Processing) required by
Federal Government of Nigeria for Film Production Unit, Information
Service, on contract for 18/24 months in first instance. Salary according
to experience in scale (including inducement addition) £1,170 rising to
£1,488 a year. Gratuity at rate £150 a year. Outfit Allowance £60.
Liberal leave on full salary. Free passages for officer and wife. Grant
up to £150 annually for maintenance of children in U.K. Free passages
for children up to cost of two adult return fares. (It is thus often possible
for an officer whose children are being educated in the U.K. to arrange
for them to spend two more school vacations in West Africa with free
passages). Candidates must have a thorough knowledge of all aspects
of cine film processing both 16mm. and 35mm., including negative cutting
experience. The officer will be required to work with and take over, as
required, from the officer in charge of the laboratories. Write to the
Crown Agents, 4 Millbank, London, S.W.I. State age, name in block
letters, full qualifications and experience and quote M3B/35002/CY.

December 1957

FILM & TV TECHNICIAN

175

General Council in Session

COST OF LIVING BONUS

The General Council, at its
November meeting, had before it
the resolutions of a recent Shorts
Section general meeting; the first
sought a meeting with the Asso-
ciation of Specialised Film Pro-
ducers " to raise the question of
consolidating the cost of living
bonus into the basic wage rate."
The Executive and General Coun-
cil agreed to press for the meeting
with the employers' federation.

On the initiative of A.C.T.T.
members at Rank Screen Services
Local Filmlet Studios, the Section
drew the Executive's attention to
the fact that because Cartoon and
Animation members have no equi-
valent gradings in the B.F.P.A.
Agreement, they do not enjoy any
increases when doing TV or Adver-
tising work, other than what is
laid down in the A.S.F.P. Agree-
ment; it was agreed, as a first step
in overcoming this anomaly, to ex-
plore the possibilities of incor-
porating these grades into the
B.F.P.A. Agreement with the
Federation of British Film Makers
and the B.F.P.A.

TELEVISION: A drive to organise
the I.T.A. Transmitters is being
made and, when conditions permit,
every effort will be made to organ-
ise TV Shops in the B.B.C.; a
special " B.B.C. Issue " of the TV
bulletin would be prepared shortly
after the one which was now at
the printers had been sent out.

Organiser Paddy Leech reported
that a meeting had been arranged
between representatives of the
Union and Independent Television
News to start talks on an agree-
ment for the film side technicians
who were at present covered by
the Newsreel Agreement.

The Organiser had visited Chel-
sea Palace (Granada TV), where
Shop Steward Mike Roberts had
convened a meeting of members
and where a considerable number
of technicians had been recruited.
An early meeting was sought with
the Station Manager of Television
West Wales to arrange for the
National Agreement to apply to
this station.

RADIO AND TELEVISION

SAFEGUARDS COMMITTEE. A

detailed report of the last two

meetings of the Committee was
given at which draft notes pre-
pared by Sir Robert Fraser on the
British nature of television films
had been considered. Sir Robert
sought guidance from the meet-
ings, and much progress had been
made.

CHRISTMAS HOLIDAYS: The

following notice had been circu-
lated by the B.F.P.A. and F.B.F.M.
to their member companies:

The B.F.P.A. and the Federa-
tion of British Film Makers have
agreed to recommend to their
member companies that the
Christmas Holidays for 1957
should be Wednesday, Thursday,
and Friday, 25th, 26th and 27th
December.

Employees who are required
to work on Friday, 21th Decem-
ber should be given a day off
in lieu.

Companies who implement this
recommendation may wish to
secure an undertaking from em-
•ployees that, in return for the
additional day's holiday on the
Friday, a full day's work will be
carried out on Tuesday, 24th
December.

The Executive asked that this
matter be raised with the other
employers' federations, and the
General Council heard that the
A.S.F.P. noted the B.F.P.A.-
F.B.F.M. circular and would leave
the matter to individual Shorts
employers.

FIFTY-SEVEN MEMBERS were
registered on the Union's Employ-
ment Bureau as at 1st October, a
decrease of thirty-nine compared
with the September figure, though
the Employment Officer, Bunny
Garner, reported that the figure of
unemployed had risen again since
then. Eighty-six vacancies were
filled by the Bureau during Sep-
tember.

IRISH T.U. ORGANISATION:

The F. & G.P. recommended that
the office be authorised to deposit
£1,000 with the Irish Ministry for
Industry and Commerce, as a pre-
requisite to having a branch of
A.C.T.T. in Ireland, as required by

Irish law. The General Secretary
reported that an Organiser would
be visiting Ireland within the next
two or three weeks to investigate
and report back to the Executive
Committee on the proposed Irish
studios.

" HARRY BLACK " - MARSHAM
PRODUCTIONS LTD.: It was

agreed that a reasonable number
of Indian technicians could be
employed while the production
Harry Black was on location in
India for a period of eight or more
weeks. The Company had given an
undertaking that a full A.C.T.T.
main shooting unit would be em-
ployed on the location, together
with an A.C.T.T. second unit of
Lighting Cameraman, Camera
Operator, two Focus Pullers, Clap-
pers/Loader, Director, Assistant
Director, Stills Cameraman and
Location Manager. The second
unit would be proceeding about 1st
December and there would be the
usual three-union location meeting
beforehand.

TV PRODUCER / DIRECTORS

DRAFT AGREEMENT: This docu-
ment, already accepted by a well-
attended meeting of TV Producer/
Directors, was presented to the
Executive which, after making
certain amendments, decided to
give detailed consideration to the
draft at a subsequent meeting; the
following Executive meeting spent
the whole evening on this matter.
Various deletions and amendments
were agreed and it was also agreed
that, prior to submitting it to the
Programme Contractors, the
amended draft should be approved
by the General Council.

The Council considered the draft
agreement in detail and made a
number of further amendments.
The document was then unani-
mously endorsed for submission to
the employers.

SOCIETY FOR FRIENDSHIP
WITH BULGARIA: The F. & G.P.

recommended and it was agreed
that we affiliate to the Society for
a fee of 10/6d. per year. This
was agreed by the Council.

176

FILM & TV TECHNICIAN

December 1957

"■.'

pi;:- 4

\ \3

' ■■'" : \

• •

"ilSas

HUH II I II 'I

EMMS LTfl.

1 «## see . . .

••>>// oi?er lOO copies
ami still spotless"

Apply for free technical brochure

22-25 PORTMAN CLOSE ■ BAKER STREET ■ LONDON W.I

Telephone: HUNter 0408-9

Published by the Proprietors, The Association of Cinematograph, Television and allied Technicians, 2 Soho
Square, London, and Printed by Watford Printers Limited, Watford. Herts.

FILM and TV

TECHNICIAN

\T.T's 25 th Birthday Issue

■■■■■■

MAY

1958

Association of < iikih.ii
VoL 24

re*
No. 160

allied Technicians
PRICE 6d.

242

FILM & TV TECHNICIAN

May 1958

Shell Films

The Shell Film Unit was founded in 1933. Its documentary films are
known throughout the world; more than 3,000 copies of current
productions are distributed annually overseas. The majority are
revoiced in more than a dozen languages. The Shell Film Library
contains over 150 films covering not only every aspect of the oil
industry but also many subjects directly or indirectly related to it.

Song of the Clouds

A colour film about world civil aviation and the far-reaching
organisation on which it depends.

Three recent Caracas

productions An English version of a film made by the Shell Film Unit in

Venezuela about life in the capital o( that country.

L_.

High Speed Flight —

Part 1 — Approaching the Speed of Sound

An introduction to the problems of high speed flight.

SHELL

Shell films can be obtained on free loan by responsible organisations
for showing to non-paying audiences in nearly ever) country in the world
simply on application to the local Shell Company , or in Great
Britain to the Petroleum Films Bureau, 29 New Bond Street, London, IV. 1.

May 1958 FILM « TV TECHNICIAN fl» i»r oi Modm

llltAtl

Wherever there's
show business

cu._

for know how
and show how. . .

244

FILM & TV TECHNICIAN

May 1958

BRITISH TRANSPORT FILMS

welcome the opportunity to send

THANKS AND GOOD WISHES

to two hundred and fifty members of A C T T

who at one time or another have given us their help

The Companies in Membership

of the
Association of Specialised Film Producers

send

Best Wishes to all

Technicians engaged in making British Films

May 1958

FILM & TV TECHNICIAN

245

The finest cranes are

TRANSATLANTIC'S

" Big Bill " camera crane

Electrically driven and is suitable

for black and white or colour

photography.

Can be used with or without tracks.

Easy to handle and can manoeuvre

very easily.

The turret head can operate through

360 degrees.

The lens of camera can be raised

from 3' 6" to 16' 0".

Requires only four men to operate it.

"Academy " camera crane

Electrically driven and adapted

for TV.

Can be used with or without tracks.

It will pass through an average

doorway 3' 6", and is driven by

a HOv DC. 5 H.P. motor.

Provides a lens height from 2' 6" to

10' 6" from the floor.

It can pann around camera axis

340 degrees.

" Baby " camera crane

For black and white or colour

photography.

Battery driven and can be operated

in studio or on location.

Can be used with or without tracks

in the studio — providing

the floor is in good condition.

On location, tracks are a necessity.

Small enough to be driven through an

average size door.

Improved turret head can operate

through 360 degrees.

Requires only two men to operate it.

Enquiries to Miss M. Haselwood, Transatlantic Pictures Corporation Limited, 36 Golden Square, W.l. REGent 8080

246

FILM & TV TECHNICIAN

May 1958

Technically
and
Artistically

Associated-Rediffusion, as the pioneers of Independent
relevision in Great Britain, have today, after only
• ' yi .us. the leading tv facilities in the world.

A mobile, miniature tv camera, nicknamed the 'Peepie-
( Ireepie', is our latest piece of equipment. It can transmil
from places hitherto inaccessible to a TV camera.

As a result of up-to-date technique and equipment,
we can transmit to the London area and the full ity net-
work the best possible programmes both technically
and artistically.

ASSOCIATED-REDIFFUSION

pioneer the best TV techniques

May 1958

FILM & TV TECHNICIAN

247

A COM PLETE
LABORATORY SERVICE

PRODUCTION FILM PROCESSING & RUSH PRINTING

TITLES *OPTICALS* INSERTS* SPECIAL EFFECTS
ANIMATED DIAGRAMS • EDITING * NEGATIVE CUTTING
FILMLETS AND FILM STRIPS IN B & W AND COLOUR

STU DIO FILM
LABORATORIES L

71 DEAN STREET, LONDON, W.I

TELEPHONE: GERrard 0831-5

REVIEW YOUR FILMS AT OUR R.C.A. PREVIEW THEATRE

Bob Betteley Eric Pask

Eric Davidson Peter Pickering

Langton Gould-Marks Sally Presley

Francis Gysin Ken Reeves

Rolf Hermelin W. Suschitzky

Robert Kruger Derek Witham

send their best Wishes and

heartiest Congratulations

A.C.T.T.

TWO KODAK SPECIALS

WITH TEN LENSES

A bolex h 16, two Kodak B cameras, G.B. 622 and 630
projectors, with all lenses to 4 in., most in duplicate, a 9 -5mm.
projector, an animated viewer, titlcr, recorder and various
screens... This is one amateur's equipment, mentioned in the
April issue of AMATEUR CINE WORLD. In the May issue :
articles on making an electric motor drive for a Bolex tor less
than 30s., and instructions for constructing a developing tank
out of a vegetable rack and a waste bin

It is this almost breath-taking variety which makes
AMATEUR CINE WORLD such intriguing reading. And
the professional film maker often finds interest and entertain-
ment in this catholocity of approach, since it can keep him
informed on aspects normally outside his province.

Also in the May issue: full results (13 pages) of the
Amateur Cine World Ten Best Films competition - the most
famous amateur film contest in the world.

PRESENTATION OF THE TEN BEST FILMS

National Film Theatre

Part 1, 21st - 25th May; Part 2, 11th June - 15th June

Seats 2s. 6d., 3s. 6d., 4s. and 5s.

all bookable, from box office (WAT 3232)

AMATEUR CINE WORLD, 2s. (over 100 pages) from news-
agents and photographic dealers, is published on the 25th of
the month from 46 - 47 CHANCE RY LANE ■ LONDON WC2

2 I s

FILM & TV TECHNICIAN

May 1958

Mazda

20 Kw Studio lamps

The new Mazda 20 Kw. Studio Lamp is now available for
immediate delivery ex stock. This lamp has been
designed in conjunction with Mole Richardson for use
in their studio spot and floodlight housing.

The Mazda 20 Kw. lamp is supplied for it <: .
operation and is also available for 2301., 240V.
and 250V. supplies. Ir provides light a! 3250 K
and is an addition 10 the range of 2 Km.,
5 K. i. and to Kw. Mazda Studio Lamps.

MELTON F.OAD LEICESTER

4758

May 1958 FILM & TV TECHNICIAN 249

1896- u (£)> -1958

Csor b2 years we hare been making L. inematoora/m C cfuifiment
at L amden CzJown, which/ so our customers inform us, whether for
ClJroductiou, Csroccsstuo or for 'rojectiou, has always had a certain

something about it thai readily identifies it as oeino of liloy
manufacture.

(_Jlus we hare always accepted as a compliment, of which, c/iute
frankly, we are rather foroudi and our constant endeavour will be to
lire up to this longstanding reputation for many years to come.

ERNEST F. MOY, LTD.

134 BAYHAM STREET, CAMDEN TOWN, LONDON, N.W.I

The

ANVIL REALIST SEVEN LEAGUE

GROUP

takes this opportunity oj extending to all its
Friends in the Industry

GREETINGS & GOOD WISHES

• ANVIL FILMS LTD

• REALIST FILM UNIT LTD

• ANVIL FILMS (SCOTLAND) LTD

• SEVEN LEAGUE PRODUCTIONS LTD

• WORLD MIRROR PRODUCTIONS LTD

250

FILM & TV TECHNICIAN

May 1958

The Single-lamp Technique —

A NEW 20kw SPOTLIGHT!

TRUNNION LOCK

LIFTING EYE
(CONCEALED!

SWITCH

FOCUS HANDLE /
BULB CLAMP

TELESCOPIC
MOUNTING

WIND OUT HANDLE
(MECHANISM TILTS AS
EXTENDS)

The Hen MR Typi 20,000 20kw Studio Illuminator, with rear-
opening lamphouse, 24-inch lens and sound-proofed blower to stop
bulb blistering. The whole lain /mouse slays cool to the touch.

Look at these Features:

1. Scientifically designed ventilation natural convec-
tion plus silenced blower.

2. Simplicity of opening even when at an angle of
45 deg.

3. No danger of damaging bulb when removing for
cleaning.

4. Easy access to all moving parts.

5. At-a-glance examination of bipost contacts.

6. Contacts fully floating yet bulb rigidly held in
focal position at all angles.

More and more the technique of
studio lighting veers towards the use
of a single lamp as the main source.
Only by this means is it possible to
secure correctly lit studio exteriors.

During the last six months over 100
of the new M.R. 10 k.w. lamps have
been supplied. We now offer a lamp
specially designed for this technique
—the Type 20,000 20 kw.

BULB NECK
CLAMP

LIFTING EYE
(CONCEALED)

7. More robust easy maintenance.

8. New style finish.

FOCUS

HANDLE

TILT RELEASE
SLIDE RELEASE

SWITCH
(OTHER SIDFi

TELESCOPIC

MOUNTING

\IK Typt 10,000 RO \0k« Studio Illuminator, also
with rear-opening lamphouse and with 20-inch lent.

MOLE-RICHARDSON (engl*nd.)LTD.

CHASE ROAD, LONDON, N.W. 10 . ELGar6834 . Cables: Molereng, England

Branch Companies in PARIS. ROME, MADRID. MUNICH

Agents and Representatives in many other countries

May 1958

FILM & TV TECHNICIAN

251

TWENTY-FIVE YEARS YOUNG

Anthony Asquith

\ DELIGHTFUL old lady I knew was left to play
with a small boy of four by his mother who
murmured apologetically something about his being
" very young ". The boy overheard the words and
was puzzled by them. " Are you very young too? "
he asked my old friend. " Yes," she answered, " but
I've been very young for a very long time."

To be able to say this with perfect truth, as she
was, seems to me a most desirable thing not only
for people, but for organisations. The recent dupli-
cation of its final " T " ensures that A.C.T.T.
remains the youngest union affiliated to the T.U.C.
But even without the help of our splendid new tail
feathers, we have been very young for twenty-five
years — a respectable span in the life of any union.
And I think we can claim without immodesty that
we have stayed young without ceasing to grow with
extraordinary rapidity in physical strength, but also,
I believe, in the capacity which is the fruit of the
ability to learn from experience.

Our is not — and must never be — the youth of
arrested development, where a huge unwieldy body
pathetically and flabbily encases a pin-head of
intelligence. Nor, when the next twenty-five years
have passed, may our youth have become that
" second childhood " due to the hardening of the
imaginative arteries, which springs from the meticu-
lous preservation of the letter of tradition, without
in the least understanding their spirit or intentions.

A living tradition is ours which continuously re-
news and changes its outward expression. It is an
oxygen tent not a strait-jacket. There is nothing
more tragic, than when a living stream is fossilized
into a stalagmite. It may be beautiful but you can-
not drink from it.

Now I do not believe that A.C.T.T. is in danger of
its youth suffering from either of these perversions
as long as we remain what our title proclaims us
to be, an association of technicians, a comradeship
of craftsmen, each of whom in his own way is con-
tributing to produce the same unique thing. It is
true that our " end-product " may fall into many

different categories, ranging from the three-hour
feature film to the thirty-second advertisement
" snip ", from the full-length television play to the
usually depressing weather forecast. But all these
have one thing in common — visual and aural com-
munication, indeed our craft, and only ours, is con-
cerned with the most powerful and, with the
possible exception of music, the most universal
medium of communication yet devised by the mind
of man.

Because of this, as a Union we bear a double
responsibility — a responsibility to our members for
their pay, their conditions of work and their general
well-being, and a responsibility to our craft and,
through it, to Society as a whole. The value of our
end product varies as greatly as the forms it takes.
Very occasionally we produce something which can
justly claim to be a work of art, something, that is,
which is of lasting value. Quite often we produce
good entertainment I in case of misunderstanding
I would like to emphasize as strongly as I can that
I believe the common distinction between art and
entertainment to be utterly false. A work can be
entertaining without being a work of art, but no
work can be a work of art without being also
entertaining. The difference is that the passage of
time does not diminish, it may even increase, the
power of the true work of art to entertain, i We
also produce works which, though essential, are by
their very nature of only temporary significance,
news items, topical discussions, etc. And alas ! we
also produce a large amount of unspeakable tripe.

As an individual craftsman, it must be the
pride of each of our members to do his particular
job as well as he can. But as a union it should
just as surely be our duty, not only to safeguard
and enhance the material well-being of our members,
but to use all our influence to see that their skill is
used on something worth doing. This has always
been a guiding principle in A.C.T.T., and as long as
it remains so, I believe that we will, in the best
sense of the word, go on being very young for a
very long time.

Sir Michael Balcon on Features . Page 252 Desmond Davis on Television . . Page 268

Thorold Dickinson on U.N. Films Page 265 Bert Craih on the Laboratories . Page 271

Sir Arthur Elton, Bt., on Documentary . Page 262

FILM

Along the Mole troops, waiting evacuation from Dunkirk, press back OS
the wooden structure disintegrates

IT
IS TIME

TO
ADJUST

MICHAEL
BALCON

" Wc ntuxt reconsider out whoh

approach to film production in

rt !at i"ii to content."

THE Association's 25th anniver-
sary has an especial interest for
me since, although my own film
career is longer, it so happens that
the life of the A.C.T.T. corresponds
to some extent with what I might
call the second stage of my in-
dustry life — the period with
Ealing.

I am asked to write, however,
about the development of feature
films during the life of the Asso-
ciation, which means that I am
dealing also with that period of
about five years before I joined
Ealing.

Well — 1933 was a period of high
hope. Under the aegis of Mr.
Isidore Ostrer and his brothers, the
activities of the then Gaumont-
British Corporation were of an ex-
pansionist nature in that the new
additions to Shepherds Bush
Studios had been completed and
we were embarking on a large pro-
gramme of films with which we
aimed to conquer the world's
markets

It i.-' perhaps Interesting to re-
member that at that time there
were not nearly enough trained
technicians In the country. But we
had no difficulty in importing first-
class men from the United States

and from Europe 1 1 have in mind
such outstanding technicians as
Georges Perinal. Max Greene, Glen
McWilliams, Otto Ludwig. Gunther
Krampf and many others) and I
think we must, to some extent, be
grateful to them for helping to
train some of the British personnel
who were to become the backbone
of our industry. Early apprentice-
ship schemes were also established,
including classes at the technical
school near the studio, principally
for the training of make-up artists.

They were in some respects good
days and, on looking back, I re-
member with affection such films
as Jack's tin Boy, Man nf Aran,
Rome Express, Tin Midshipmaid
and The Good Companions.

Alas, our fondest hopes w< i
dashed to the ground. We failed
to conquer the American market
and round about 1936-37 we were
faced with one of our earlier crises
The pity of it was that this was m
some respects a vantage period for
British films, with stars like Jack
Hulbert, Cicelj Courtncidgc.
Conrad Veidt, Jessie Matthew.-'.
Tom Walls — to mention but a few
— at the peak of their success.

There is no doubt that since its
foundation the Association has

May 1958

FILM & TV TECHNICIAN

253

done a great deal for the working
conditions of its members, but I
hope I am not committing a heresy
in saying that up to 1933 (the year
your Union came into operation)
and in fact in the immediate years
following we did not really have
much cause to grumble at our lot
at Shepherds Bush.

All was not well, however,
despite the excitement we felt
about our work in those days. We
had not made the progress we had
anticipated in the creation of a
native school of film production.
Many of the films (with notable
exceptions, of course) even if they
were not slavish copies of the
American type of picture, could
have been better made in Holly-
wood. There was even a period
when we fell for the idea that the
importation of American stars,
directors and American-type
stories would somehow provide the
necessary ingredients for conquer-
ing the American market and pro-
ducing vast revenues. It was a
mirage — nor did we make any
great impression in any market
oversea.

Their Own Idiom

It was not until the war period
that the British feature films began
to express themselves in their own
idiom (the British documentary, to
its everlasting credit, had already
done so, and I still look upon the
work of the early documentary
units as being the greatest single
influence in British film produc-
tion).

Naturally one thinks back on
one's own work, and the immediate
post-war years at Ealing Studios
were spent under ideal working
conditions, and produced, I think,
not only a typical Ealing picture
but something that was indigenous
in its conception — and proof posi-
tive of your President's belief that
the truly international picture is
the film of national appeal.

We are always hearing about
crises in the film industry. Each
one I have experienced in more
than thirty years in the business
has been heralded as another nail
in the industry's coffin. Each time,
however, the film industry has
risen again and found a fresh and
stronger voice in the world.

As I look back over the last few
years — and I recall that there was
yet another " crisis " in 1949 — I
must say that I consider some
ground has been lost in feature
film production. Although for
some time we have been facing
falling returns, the inflationary
pattern in production still con-
tinues. In fact there is some

parallel with the situation in
America, described not very long
ago by a well-known commentator
in these words : " The motion
picture industry has functioned
without noticeable adjustments to
economic realities . . . for four
decades."

In a sense, of course, the end of
the silent picture was the end of

to the shorter working week) but —
and this is infinitely more impor-
tant — in relation to content.

We must realise that we have
a different, younger population
who are intelligent and capable
enough to respond to our films pro-
vided we deal with subjects that
are of vital importance and in-
terest to them.

Sir Michael Balcon, producer of " Dunkirk ", chats with director
Leslie Norman and star John Mills

an era and it may well be that we
are moving into something of a
similar nature today.

There is much adjustment which
needs take place and much of it
is self-adjustment. It is no use our
saying that the responsibility for
our present troubles lies exclu-
sively with television or the ex-
hibition or distribution side of the
film industry. Although many
changes must inevitably take place
there, we must be thoroughly intro-
spective and see what we ourselves
can do.

The easy solution is not the em-
ployment of gimmicks, whether in
the technical developments of
screen dimension or negative size,
or the production of horror or sex
features.

We must reconsider our whole
approach to film production not
only in relation to shooting
schedules (which in the lifetime
of the Association have increased
in many cases far out of proportion

Much has happened in these
twenty-five years. We have seen
the gradual concentration of film
production in the four main studio
centres, Pinewood, Shepperton,
Elstree and Boreham Wood, and in
the more recent years, the signifi-
cant development of Anglo-Ameri-
can production.

We have seen also the establish-
ment of the National Film Finance
Corporation and a statutory pro-
duction levy. During the life of
the Association taxation on the in-
dustry has developed from the
punitive to the lethal; and, to his
everlasting credit, John Davis for
the first time in British film history
has built up a world selling organi-
sation of significant proportions.

We have witnessed the develop-
ment of another great medium of
mass communication and enter-
tainment. I would not, however,
like to forecast the pattern of film
production over the next twenty-
five years !

254

FILM & TV TECHNICIAN

May 195S

(iKOKGE LOWE IN ACTION

WITH THE TRANS-
ANTARCTIC EXPEDITION.

A film iij the Expedition
t urn iiii.s.snuii il hit the
linlish Petroleum Co.
Ltd. is being made by
World Wide Pictures
and will be ready for
showing m the autumn.

CAMERAMAN

ANTARCTICA

On Right: "LAB TOPICS"
\EAK THE POLE

May 1958

FILM & TV TECHNICIAN

255

*^; : |fc^

Above: ' ROC KN ROLL ' TRAPPED IN A
CREVASSE. Left: PROBING FOR A SAFE

PATH. Below: GEORGE AND SOME GEAR

Pictures by courtesy of the Trans-Antarctic
Expedition

256

FILM & TV TECHNICIAN

May 1958

Pattern for the Future

By
GEORGE ELVIN

I DOUBTLESS because he is aware
'-'of the thin dividing line be-
tween dotage and anecdotage, the
Editor suggested I might in this
article look forward rather than
backward, leaving review of the
past twenty-five years to other
contributors.

The only major change in the
pattern of our Union over the past
quarter of a century has been the
development of television and the
slight shrinkage in the influence
of feature film production. Where-
as in the early days our member-
ship was primarily composed of
technicians engaged in feature
films, their numbers now are only
about one-sixth of the total.

Expansion of Documentary

There has been expansion on the
shorts and documentary side pri-
marily due to development in the
non-theatrical use of films, and
there has, of course, been an ex-
pansion in our laboratory section
which we started to recruit a year
or so after we were formed and
which has subsequently become a
very substantial proportion of our
membership.

There has, on the other hand,
been a shrinkage in newsrecl mem-
bership as a result of the virtual
demise of two of the five News-
reels.

This year's Annual General
Meeting is the first year when all
these varying changes have be-
come really noticeable. I don't
think it needs a very accurate
crystal ball to prophesy that
twenty-five years hence there will
be many more shifts of balance
within the Union by reason of
changes in films and television
than there have been in our first
twenty-five years.

For a start, unless they wake up
their ideas and put out pro-
grammes which the public will
clamour to see, it is virtually cer-
tain there will be no cinema news-
reels twenty five years hence and
this is almost sure to have some
repercussions on the laboratory

side particularly in those labora-
tories which do newsreel work.

On the other hand, there may
well be a development in television
newsreels and therefore within the
union as a whole the shake up may
not be very substantial. Although
here, too, recent developments
such as tape recorded television
indicate that television newsreels
may function without the neces-
sity of laboratory processing.

We are certain, of course, to
have developments and expansion
in television and it is likely that
before long the Government of the
day will introduce legislation to
establish competitive television
channels. Whether they will be
administered by the B.B.C. or by
Independent Television or by some
new third body is much more
problematical. But in any case we
can look forward to an expanding
membership.

Must Wake Up

The cinema side is much more
problematical but I am not one of
those Jeremiahs who foresee the
demise of the cinema in favour of
television, as at least one Govern-
ment spokesman who recently re-
ceived a deputation from A.C.T.T.
seemed to do. At the same time,
unless the film industry wakes up
its ideas it is sure to go through
continuing difficulties despite the
tax relief granted in this year's
budget and, we hope, the com-
plete abolition of th< tax next year
if it cannot be forced through
earlier.

But while tax relief, or prefer-
ably abolition, for which we must
continue to fight, will mean the
removal of a great injustice for
the film industry, that by itself
will not necessarily lead to any
benefits either to the public, to
production as a whole or to the
employees in the industry. If, as
our President said in his Address
to the Annual General Meeting,
tax relief is used simply to bolster
profits or buttress losses we are
merely putting off the evil day

when a large shake-up must take
nlace in the British film industry.

Cinemas, if they are to stay in
business, must be modernised and
those who control production
must stop playing fast and loose
with the livelihood of their em-
ployees and settle down to a broad
expansionist policy.

The present crisis is a challenge
to British producers. While re-
turns generally are down it is
significant that British films con-
tinue to attract more money to the
box office than foreign films.

Expand Production

One of the steps which should be
taken in order to overcome the In-
dustry's difficulties would be an
expansion of production instead of
the foolish contraction which re-
cently took place in certain
quarters.

One thing is certain, though
some people do not appear to
appreciate it, namely, that unless
films are made and made available
for showing, nothing on earth will
attract the public back to the
cinemas.

An analysis of the output of the
leading directors of the British
film industry would show that,
through no fault of their own.
then output is at a very much
lower level than that of leading
directors in other countries. There
is an obvious case in point. At the
very time when our own Presi-
dent's last film, Orders to Kill, was
being acclaimed and indeed re-
ceiving rave notices in the British
press, his employers were busy
cancelling his next production, an
experience which he and other
leading directors have suffered all
too frequently in recent years.

We must stop for all time this
sorry business of British produc-
tion being used as a pawn in the
game which cinema owners play
with the Government and others
on whom they wish to exert
pressure.

At times 1 almost despair of
British exhibitors acting intelli-

May 1958

FILM & TV TECHNICIAN

257

gently. It was Sir Alexander
Korda who said years ago that no
film has ever earned its full poten-
tial from the box office. How
right he was. Exhibitors continue
to have this silly policy of films
running for one week or three days
and seldom longer because of an
antiquated booking policy.

Why is it, for example, that in

As a leading projectionist said
at a recent inter-union meeting,
a few are quite happy to drop out
reels two and seven of a support-
ing film in order to make sure that
nothing interferes with their
slavish adherence to such time-
tables.

Why is it that apart from the
development in the sales of ice

other when one of the major cir-
cuits has an outstanding film the
other circuit also has to show a
real top-notcher so that, as mem-
bers of the public have said to me,
it is impossible to plan one's
cinema going. One has to go two
or three times in one week in a
month and then may very well
wish to skip the remaining weeks.

OCR " BIRTH CERTIFICATE

IS" I to -HH^r

Qeriificttit of Registry of Trad* I

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tifteci that +kr?

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The official entry recording the foundation of the Union

(Jhhj K-'j) ■>'■■(' ,

the large seaside towns where the
public is changing each week
throughout the summer we can
have plays and variety pro-
grammes running unchanged
throughout the whole season,
whereas the same treatment is
seldom accorded to a film ?

Why is it that cheap morning
matinees which were quite a
feature of film exhibition in Lon-
don and similar large cities before
the war are no longer operated?
If the answer is financial, why
aren't other means sought to cater
for those numerous members of
the public who cannot go to the
cinema in normal times because
they are working?

Why is it that exhibitors
slavishly stick to their routine of
opening and closing times?

cream nothing has been done in
recent years to help attract
patrons back to the cinemas ? Why
is it that, so many a parent tells
me, films at school holiday times
are frequently of such a character
that children cannot go to them
or at least have to be accompanied
by adults? Surely cinemas can
find out intelligently in advance
what the school holidays are and
plan their programmes accord-
ingly.

Why is it too that if by reason
of diabolical weather or some
other special cause a film which
is expected to attract the crowds
has a rough time on its first time
round such film seldom comes back
again to catch the public which
under normal circumstances it
would have had? Why is it, too,
that in order to compete with each

Members can, I am sure, think
of many other examples of unen-
lightened policy of the cinema
owners and the first thing they
must learn if they wish to stay in
business is that they must com-
pletely reorientate their ideas.

There is another point which
needs airing. The National Film
Finance Corporation has rendered
valuable service to British Film
Production and indeed without it
there would be no independent pro-
duction today. Now it seems to be
getting in a groove. On a short-
term basis it seems to be running
out of money and unless the
Government acts quickly, the
N.F.F.C. may not be able to
finance all the worthwhile inde-
pendent productions which it

(Continued on page 259)

LT,X

FILM & TV TECHNICIAN

May 1958

Mood
Music

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INDEPENDENT ARTISTS

BEACONSFIELD STUDIOS

May 1958

FILM & TV TECHNICIAN

259

GEORGE ELVIN

(Continued)

would wish to finance in the near
future. On a long-term basis it
should have both sufficient capital
and powers to act as a kind of
cushion to the vicissitudes of pro-
duction.

Whenever there is some tempor-
ary crisis in films that may be
caused by outside dictates over
which it has no control, for ex-
ample, the recent changes in the
Bank Rate which have added
burdens to independent producers
and indeed to the bigger com-
panies as well, it is surely the job
of the N.F.F.C. to buttress produc-
tion to make sure that the in-
dustry is able to overcome such
difficulties.

Target for Industry

What I would like to see is some
kind of annual budget or target in
which the industry sets out to
make a stipulated number of
films each year, preferably on
a rising scale. It should be a
prime job of the N.F.F.C. to play
a prominent part in ensuring that
such a target is met. It should
also have power to take over pro-
ductions which, whether for wise
or foolish reasons, are about to be
cancelled by producers so that we
avoid the sort of experience which
has been suffered at Pinewood
recently, when no one has known
whether the productions on which
they commence work were likely
to be completed or not.

There is another aspect of the
future to which we shall have to
give considerable thought long
before the next quarter of a
century has expired. The British
Government is shortly entering
into discussions with European
Governments on the part which
films could or should play in a
European Common Market.

A.C.T.T. has not yet discussed
this and I would not like to pro-
phesy what its attitude would be,
but I anticipate it will be along
the lines that, while it would wel-
come co-operation between the
British industry and continental
industries to protect and help each
other, it would strongly oppose
any move which would seek to re-
place British film production by
continental production or by co-
productions.

I have talked to many people
both in France and Italy on the
co-production scheme which has
operated between those two
countries for the past few years.

The scheme got off to a good start
and it is possible there was initial
expansion of production in both
countries, but now there are many
in those two countries who are
opposed to it, partly because the
concentration on reduced pro-
duction costs, upon which emphasis
has been laid in the schemes, has
not led to the production of either
outstanding films or indeed films
which have managed to recoup
their cost of production. False
economy in production is no econ-
omy at all.

It is quite clear, too, that only
certain types of stories are suited
to co-production and even then
there has to be meticulous care in
all facets of making the film itself.
We must at all costs avoid making
films the object of which is, for
example, simply to substitute
French for British labour or
British for Italian labour, irres-
pective of the story to be filmed.

On the other hand some form of
European Common Market would
be worthwhile if it were used to
stimulate development of native
productions in each country and to
restrict the amount of screen time
which is at present commandeered
by American productions.

Must Co-operate With TV

Above all, films must reach a
modus vivendi with television. It
is significant that, after the initial
hostility of films to television, a
number of the leading film
interests are now directly con-
cerned in operating television
stations. As long as we realise
that basically the type of pro-
duction which is most suited to ex-
hibition in cinemas is not the type
of production which is best suited
to the television screen there is no
reason at all why there cannot be
fruitful co-operation between the
two media.

Turning to television, the future
is far less uncertain. As long as
the public continue to buy tele-
vision sets in increasing numbers
so we are almost sure to have an
expanding industry. But it is
equally certain that when sets
have been acquired, and paid for,
the public are likely to be much
more discriminating in what they
see on television and some of the
lessons of the past few years will
have to be learnt if the public is
still going to look to television as
one of its main sources of enter-
tainment.

Some of the pitfalls were dis-
cussed and received headline pub-
licity at our last Annual General
Meeting and I need not therefore

go into them here. But in my
view it would be wrong when we
have another competitive channel
to act on the assumption that the
B.B.C. should operate as a Third
Programme for Television, and
that the I.T.A. should be regarded
as comparable to the Light Pro-
gramme in Radio, leaving the new
channel to operate a kind of Home
Service.

The only way to get the best
service available to the public and,
indeed, to give technicians every
opportunity to do justice to them-
selves is to have networks which
are completely competitive in all
senses.

May I in conclusion say just a
few words on the past quarter of
a century within A.C.T.T. It has
been an exciting twenty-five years,
and fruitful in many ways. On
more than one occasion, and par-
ticularly at the outbreak of war,
it was the trade unions who were
in the vanguard of the fight to pre-
serve the industry. With all due
modesty we can say that the size
and importance both of British
films and television today are in
some measure due to the success-
ful struggle which has been carried
on over the years by our own
Union and others operating jointly
with us.

We have naturally enough been
at all times mindful of the jobs,
salaries and working conditions of
our members, but we have equally
tried to be farseeing on the
broader issues and we have lost no
opportunity in advocating pro-
posals designed to foster the well-
being of British films and British
television.

May Unity Continue

We have built up our member-
ship from a handful of pioneers to
nearly 8,000. We have developed
from an unorganised rabble to a
cohesive and strong force. We
have seen the conditions of em-
ployment of our members advanced
from terms which were scandalous
into Agreements which are as good
as those held by any other British
trade union. We have developed
from a collection of individuals un-
used to organisation and inexperi-
enced in how to go about improv-
ing their lot into a trade union
which is as strong, even if numeri-
cally small, as any other collection
of employees in Britain. And in
making this progress we have
managed to retain that degree of
unity and sense of comradeship
which should pervade the trade
union movement. May it always
be so.

260

FILM & TV TECHNICIAN

May 1958

1933 June 21st

A.C.T. formed.

1934 January

George Elvin appointed General
Secretary.

1935 May

First number published " Journal
of the Association of Cine-Techni-
cians ", now " Film & TV Tech-
nician ".

193(5 December

First industrial agreement signed.
Negotiated with Gaumont-British
Picture Corporation (Shepherds
Bush).

1937 May

Anthony Asquith first elected
President.

1938 April

New Cinematograph Films Act
(Quota Act) in which union policy
reflected in minimum cost clause,

LOOKING BACK

Some A.C.T.T. Highlights

fair wages clause, and general pro-
visions fostering British produc-
tion as a result of mass lobbying
and other trade union intensive
pressure.

1939 February

First major agreement signed.
With Laboratory Section of the
Film Production Employers'
Federation (forerunner of the Film
Laboratory Association).

1940

Intensive activity with other Trade
Unions and producers to preserve
industry (which Government
planned to scrap) and ensure it
played a full part in war effort.

1941

Arrangements made to staff Ser-
vice Film Units with A.C.T. mem-
bers who, it can now be revealed,
were released from Church Parade

to attend Trade I'nion meetings.

1942 September

First Agreement with Association
of Specialised Film Producers.

1943 January

First Agreement with British Film
Producers' Association.

1944 September

First Agreement with Newsreel
Association.

1945 September

National Arbitration Tribunal
awards in favour of A.C.T. follow-
ing thirteen weeks' dispute with
Film Laboratory Association on
terms of new agreement. Sub-
stantial wage increases and im-
proved working conditions laid
down.

1946 March-April

Repair and Despatch Strike.

1947 June

Demarcation Agreement signed
settling long-standing differences
between A.C.T., E.T.U. and
N.A.T.K.E.

1948 April

New Cinematograph Films Act in-
corporating progressive improve-
ments on previous Acts.

May 1958

FILM & TV TECHNICIAN

261

19-49 December

Short-lived Joint Industrial Coun-
cil formed between B.F.P.A.,
A.C.T., E.T.U., NA.T.K.E.

1950 May

Formation of A.C.T. Films Ltd.,
the first film production company
in the world owned and operated
by a Trade Union.

1953 November

Parliament approves introduction
of commercial television.

1951 January

Mass trade union demonstration at
Wyndhams Theatre to focus
Government and public attention
on plight of British film production.

1952 February

End of an era. A.C.T. fails to pre-
vent Government abolishing Crown
Film Unit (formerly the G.P.O.
Film Unit).

1954 March

Laboratory Lock-out and Strike.

1955 April

Strike to force A.C.T. recognition
in commercial television.

1956 March

A.C.T. becomes A.C.T.T.

1957 August

Agreement signed with Pro-
gramme Contractors' Association
on behalf of technicians employed
in commercial television.

1958 21st June

25 TODAY !

Illustrations by Land

WIDER YET AND
WIDER!

Cinerama — CinemaScope —
Todd AO - - Miraclescope — you
think you've heard them all? Well
I just read about one you haven't.
How about SHOCKIKU-GRAND-
SCOPE (pronounced Schock-he-
you, I presume). Its a Japanese
process. What's it like? Don't
ask me, go and see Chased, billed
as " Would she give up her hus-
band to be a murderer's sweet-

heart?" when and if it gets to
your local.

M.L.

" To my mind the film is far
more important than the ' Daily
Telegraph ', or ' The Times ', or
' Daily Express '." — Sir Henry
French, quoted in the Journal of
the British Film Academy.

*
The fourth Soho Fair will take
place this year, starting on July
13th.

JUST

PRINT!

'Twixt a print from a dupe and a

dupe from a dupe
The difference is vast,
And complications do ensue
If the original is masked.

By printing from an unmasked

print
With geometry reversed
You get a print the wrong way

up,
Projecting it head first.

To overcome this paradox
You print it cell to cell,
Reversing it from left to right
And upside down as well.

By then of course the perfs will

be
The wrong side of the frame;
And so you show it back to front,
It comes to much the same.

To make it clear, you mask the

print
And dupe it cell to light,
Reversing it from head to tail
To make it come out right;

Remembering to compensate
For difference in sync.
By moving down the S.S. mark
by fifteen frames — I think.

The second generation print
Will now be mirrorwise,
That is to say, inverted, but
If I may just reprise —

Just mask the print and print

the dupe
And dupe it with the track —
A masked masked print of an

unmasked dupe of a master

you'll get back —

And when all's done and back it

comes
And it's shown upon the screen,
No matter how you've done the

job,
How careful you have been.

Though you have not made one

mistake
Accept this with a shrug —
The print you see will be N.G.
Because of flutterbug.

E. Davie s

■2tV2

FILM & TV TECHNICIAN

May 1958

Twenty-
Five

"The Gas Turbine", a Shell film directed by Peter de Xormamille —
diagram of a Turbo-jet

Years of Documentary

A S a recognised movement with
-'*■ aim and purpose, documentary
began in 1929 with John Grierson's
Drifters, screened for the first time
at a Film Society performance as
a curtain raiser to Potemkin. Its
success decisively affected national
film policy thereafter.

Drifters and the documentary
movement came out of the econ-
omic situation of the early thirties.
The Empire was turning into the

ARTHUR ELTON

it came to endorse John Grierson's
theories of the creative interpreta-
tion of actuality and his belief
that, if only one could see clearly
enough and sympathetically, the

" Kiihaiiliram ". produced for Burmah-Shell bj lliiiiuar Publicity —
classroom in Indian communi(> school

Commonwealth, a change which
became inevitable as soon as inter-
Empire protective tariffs were
abandoned.

The Empire Marketing Board
was set up to do something to
soften the blow by persuasion and
publicity. One of its jobs was to
knit together the peoples in the
British Commonwealth. A good
way of doing this seemed to be
by the film. That is why the
Empire Marketing Board has such
an intimate connection with the
history of documentary, and why

humblest and the dullest occupa-
tion could be made as romantic as
the dare-devil exploits of a cow-
boy. No greater drama could be
found than the drama of social
and technological development
and change.

The birth of documentary was
not without pain, for the old
Empire school of propagandists be-
lieved, with dying vigour, in a type
of propaganda Kipling and Kit-
chener would have endorsed. As a
result, two films were commis-
sioned by the EMB simultaneously

in 1928 — Creighton's One Family,
about a little boy who went to
Buckingham Palace to pull the
plums of Empire out of a Christ-
mas pudding; and Drifters, a
study of North Sea fishermen.

One Family died an immediate
death in the Palace Theatre :
Drifters became famous overnight.
Shortly afterwards, Grierson's
EMB Film Unit was called into
existence by Sir Stephen Tallents,
and the first documentary films
made their appearance: O'er Hill
mid DaU , Shadow on the Moun-
tain, The Other Half of the World,
Industrial Britain, Upstream,
Aero-Engine and an odd little com-
pilation called Conquest.

It was a time when, to many
people, the entertainment cinema
seemed more than usually jejeune,
so to the movement were attracted
not only a group of young film
makers, among others Basil
Wright, Stuart Legg, Edgar
Anstey. Paul Rotha. Harry Watt,
Donald Taylor, Marian and Ruby
Grierson, John Taylor, and J. D.
Davidson, but also young writers,
poets and musicians, including
W. H. Auden. Benjamin Britten
and Walter Leigh.

Cavalcanti came to us from
France and in a year or two
taught us more about cutting and
the presentation of our material
than we should have learnt by our-
selves in a month of Sundays. Bob
Flaherty rampaged over the Mid-
lands and, seen through his eyes,
the Black Country took on a beauty
of its own. Much later Carl Dreyer
came to us from Denmark and
made his own special contribution
to the script of North St a.

When the Empire Marketing
Board was scrapped. Tallents
moved over to the Post Other, at
that time the only Government

May 1958

FILM & TV TECHNICIAN

263

department, except the Ministry
of Labour, in intimate contact
with the public and suffering from
a surfeit of public disfavour. He
took the EMB Film Unit with him
and renamed it the GPO Film
Unit. From it stemmed another
famous series of films : Night
Mail, 6.30 Collection, Weather
Forecast, Under the City, The
Copper Web, North Sea, and a
score of others. The gas industry,
locked in combat with electricity,
took the film under its wing and
gave us Housing Problems, Enough
to Eat and Children at School.
Tea brought Song of Ceylon. The
BBC gave us BBC — The Voice of
Britain, and the Ministry of
Labour, Men and Jobs.

The Shell Film Unit was founded
in 1933 and early undertook a pro-
gramme of films on physics and
aviation.

It is often supposed that the
term "documentary" applies to a
technique of film making. It does
not. It refers to a point of view
on the part of the maker. It hap-
pens that films fitted this point of
view peculiarly well and became
its principal instrument of expres-
sion. A decade earlier radio might
have been the choice. Twenty-five
years later it is no accident that
John Grierson is conducting a TV
programme in Scotland.

The job of the original documen-
tary film makers was to bring
alive the world around them at a
moment of ferment engendered by
the rise of social democracy as we
know it today. So the subject
matter of many of the films was
found in housing, nutrition and
communication. These things were
central in the public thinking of
the thirties, and the first documen-
tary films were part of the social
life of their time.

When the War came in 1939, the
documentary movement was small,
but strong. It seized the initiative
and was entrusted with the task
of bringing Britain's war effort
alive. It expanded many times
over. The result was that the
movement gained in size but lost
in direction. The Documentary
came to mean a kind of film with-
out actors. Experimental tech-
niques and styles hammered out in
the '30s quickly became formulae.

It is to Canada that one must
look for the complete flowering of
the pre-war British documentary
movement. Even the Crown Film
Unit, inheritor of the traditions of
the GPO Film Unit, sometimes
took on the airs of a society lady
in a ringside seat at a circus, and
finally behaved in a way calculated
to secure its own demise. But at

its best it was responsible perhaps
for the finest war film of all —
Humphrey Jennings' Fires Were
Started.

Today the need for the creative
interpretation of actuality is as
great as ever, but the subject
matter of the films is changing,
and the purposes are different. We
are facing a crisis in education
when the old classical and liberal
values are being found wanting
and the new scientific and tech-
nological ones not yet wholly
accepted. This is why the liveliest
contemporary documentaries are
occupied, not with housing and

Problems book and left Free
Cinema unsuccessfully to pursue a
freedom Captive Cinema has long
since commanded.

If today some British documen-
taries seem a little dead-beat this
is anything but true of the films
coming out of Asia, Africa, the
Middle East and Latin America.
There a documentary film move-
ment is bubbling up beside the
developing social and economic
forces. The foremost exponents of
the documentary film today bear
names which sound strange and
far away in the purlieus of Soho
Square. Atma Ram of India,

A documentary in the making — " Venezuela Fights Malaria ", produced by
(nidad Filmiea Shell, directed by Boris Woron/.ow

nutrition, but with the interpreta-
tion of science and technology.

One result is that Approach-
ing the Speed of Sound shared a
Venice prize with Every Day Ex-
cept Christmas. It stems directly
from the old EMB Aero-Engine
and early Shell films like Power
Unit and Springs.

For all its solid elegance.
Every Day Except Christmas dis-
plays a sense neither of social nor
of economic reality. Lindsay
Anderson parades his engaging
and ebullient cast like a mission-
ary showing off converted canni-
bals to a visiting bishop. So
marked is his lack of social aware-
ness in a subject one would have
supposed he would have found
bristling with social problems,
that it suggests there may not be
much place today for the so-called
social film. Television has taken
over the job and has found a direct
approach to its subject matter
that eludes contemporary docu-
mentary. Michael Peacock, Caryl
Doncaster, Peter Hunt, Peter
Morley and Michael Ingrams have
taken a leaf out of the Housing

Abou il Naga of Egypt, Ebrahim
Golestan of Iran and Nestor
Lovera of Venezuela have taken
the standard and are carrying it
to new heights. One of the more
significant films of our time is a
16mm. Egyptian documentary with
the strange title of Tie Up Your
Camel and Leave the Rest to God.

That documentary is the only
creative contribution Britain has
ever made to the art of the film is
not to be doubted. We can be
proud that its point of view and
principles are recognised by film
makers all over the world. We are
honoured that many of us have
been called to help the new docu-
mentary film find its feet. We can
be reassured, too, for the new over-
seas movement has produced not
only new possibilities and pur-
poses, but new jobs.

It is up to us to keep up with
the inspiration and freshness of
the new overseas documentaries.
The disciplines of the movement
are open to everyone, but they
leave little room for the man with
his eyes on his feet and not on far
horizons.

264

FILM & TV TECHNICIAN

May 1958

TED LANGLEY

Senior Cameraman
B.B.C. Television Service

introduces

VERA

'yHE latest addition to the B.B.C.
* Recording Equipment, the
Video Electronic Recording Ap-
paratus, VERA for short, is being
installed at Lime Grove and will
be ready for service very soon. A
demonstration was given on
Panorama on Monday, April 14th,
the vision signals being recorded
on the prototype apparatus at the
B.B.C.'s Research Department at
Nightingale Square.

Normally Telerecordings are
done by filming the picture from a
Cathode Ray Tube. The film is
then sent to the Laboratories in the
usual way for processing. This
takes anything up to twenty-four
hours for urgent prints. If the
film is topical and urgently re-
quired the negative can be used
for transmission and phase-
reversal applied in the video
channel.

By using magnetic tape, this
can be recorded and transmitted in
a few minutes, in other words,
in the time it takes to re-wind the
tape back to the start position.
For News and programmes like
Panorama and Sportsview VERA
is a Godsend.

The tape travels through the
heads at 200 inches per second or
1,000 feet per minute and the run-
up time is approximately twenty
seconds. It is possible to monitor
vision and sound whilst recording
is in progress. Twenty-thousand
feet reels are used which give
nearly twenty minutes recording.

Three tracks are used on i-inch
un-sprocketed tape. Of these, two
are for vision and one for sound.
The video waveform ( picture i is
divided into two frequency bands,
one frequency band per track. It
is believed that the upper fre-
quency band is heterodyned to pro-
duce a lower band of frequencies
for easier recording. This would
be converted back to the original
frequency band on reproduction.

Magnetic tape can be wiped and
used again and again and as there
is no processing involved the cost
of recording a programme on
VERA is much less than a record-
ing on film.

Contributions to or from Euro-
vision are catered for by the con-
verter at Swingate, which consists
of a display (TV cathode ray tube)
with a static Television camera
working at the required line fre-
frequency focused on it.

Programmes recorded on VERA
could only be offered abroad via
this facility. In other words, the
tape cannot be sent abroad for
transmission by a foreign station.
Even if the foreign station had a
VERA, they would still need a con-
verter to convert the recording to
their own line frequency. There-
fore, programmes recorded on
VERA would have to be trans-
ferred to film for sale abroad.

Ampex System

It might be interesting to men-
tion the Ampex system which is
used in the U.S.A. This uses a
slow tape speed and a system of
rotating heads which lay the
recorded video information across,
rather than along, the tape. A
drawback of this system is that
the same heads must be used for
recording and playback. VERA
recordings are not bound by this
critical requirement.

Magnetic tape cannot be stored
for long periods without gradual
loss of the higher frequencies and
there is also the possibility of
print-through. Great care must be
exercised at all times to keep the
tape away from magnetic fields
such as generators, etc.

Full technical information on
editing is not yet available.

In the case of a play being
recorded there are sometimes a
few re-takes necessary after trans-
mission has taken place, due, per-
haps, to an artist fluffing lines,
someone making a noise, a camera-
man, producer or sound mixer
making an operational error. This
necessitates editing but this pre-
sents no problems with film. Edit-
ing high speed tape, however,
would appear to present some pro-
blems and would require a high
degree of concentration, probably
behind locked doors !

It could be done by wiping the
faulty sequences, but what is
there to guarantee that the re-
take time is exactly that of the
original and will fit perfectly the
wiped portion? Also, although

the recording can be monitored
during editing and the wipe switch
pressed at the correct moment,
there will be nothing on the
monitor to indicate when to release
the wipe key at the end of the
sequence, with the consequent
danger of wiping beyond the
required point.

Editing by transfer of essential
material to another machine,
stopping at the point of retake,
doing the retake on the transfer
machine, then carrying on with
the transfer from the original
machine, might appear to be a
solution. Unfortunately, synchr-
nisation of the two machines would
be absolutely essential and this
would be virtually impossible
because the run-up time varies.

Cutting and Joining

Cutting and joining would be the
best method, using a frequency
blip above the audio range super-
imposed on the sound track to
mark the splicing point. This blip
would be heard as a whistle when
the tape was played back slowly.
The splice would probably cause a
change of syncs on transmission
which would be visible as a
momentary line twitter or a frame
roll but this would not be serious.

It remains to be seen whether
eventually all telerecordings will
be done on VERA. I do not think
so because material for archives
or other similar requirements will
onlj retain its original quality over
tin' years if done on film, and pro-
grammes for sale abroad also need
to be done on film for reasons
already given.

May 1958

FILM & TV TECHNICIAN

265

Death of
A. E. Inglethorpe

We very much regret to
announce the death of one of
A.C.T.T.'s oldest members, Alfred
Edward Inglethorpe, one of the
old-time news-reel cameramen who
worked for many years for
Gaumont and Pathe.

Brother R. W. Smith writes :
•' Alfred Edward Inglethorpe had
an inventive brain and was respon-
sible for many improvements on
cine cameras and projectors. Many
years ago he constructed a tripod
with a floating head to correct
horizon when filming at sea. Even
up to the time of his death at the
age of 69 he was working on a
back projection model of his own
design for use in schools and for
advertising. He will be remem-
bered with affection by old
members of A.C.T.T."

Two Weddings

Brian Shemmings, Branch Sec-
retary, Pathe, Wardour Street,
writes :

Two of our members got married
during March this year. The first
was Ronnie Steele, who was
married on March 22nd at St.
Margaret's Church, Streatham, to
Miss Marion Lait. There were 90
guests at the reception. The
Branch presented Ron and Marion
with an electric fire as a wedding
present.

The second was Les Holland,
who was married on March 29th
at St. Jude's Church, Elephant and
Castle, to Miss Eileen Sone. An
archway of fishing rods was lined
up outside the Church, for Les is
an ardent member of the South-
wark Angling Club. There were
52 guests at the reception, includ-
ing his brother Bill, who works
with him at this Branch. Les and
Eileen were presented with a can-
teen of cutlery, a wedding present
from the Branch.

FILM & TV TECHNICIAN

Editor:
MARTIN CHISHOLM

Editorial Office:
2 Soho Square, W.l

Telephone: GERrard 8506

Advertisement Office:
67 Clerkenwell Road, E.C.I

Telephone: HOLborn 4972

FILM MAKING FOR THE

UNITED NATIONS

By
THOROLD DICKINSON

Head of United Nations Film Services

United Nations Film Services
work as uncompromisingly inter-
nationally as A.C.T.T. tries to
work nationally. Our range of
nationalities includes French, Czech,
Indian, Jamaican, Russian, Ameri-
can and British. Each of the
eighty-two nations has a quota of
the staff of the whole organisation
according to the amount of its
financial contribution.

The annual contributions of the
member nations to the Film
Services amount to an average of
a little over two thousand dollars
per nation. We scrape additional
money by working for Specialised
Agencies of the United Nations
family like U.N.I.C.E.F. (The
Children's Fund), or by publicising
special projects like the UN
Emergency Force in the Middle
East; or by making joint pro-
ductions with individual member
states on subjects of mutual
interest.

Millions of Feet

Our film library contains millions
of feet of coverage from all over
the world as well as coverage of
meetings of the Security Council
and the United Nations General
Assembly. This historic material
is available at the cost of a dupli-
cate negative for any production
or television programme consonant
with the interests of the United
Nations. Indeed, we give all the
help within our scope to any pro-
ducer whose interests coincide with
ours.

We also make films. In Haiti,
earlier this year, we have been
making a three-reel anecdotal
about United Nations Technical
Assistance work in introducing
modern methods of co-operative
farming. This was to form the
second of three episodes designed
to make up the first United
Nations film of feature length,
under the working title of Power
Among Men. It is a study of post-
war efforts to regain, to raise and
to maintain standards of living in
conditions of defence, agriculture
and industry. The first episode

takes place in a war-devastated
village near Monte Cassino in
Italy, the second in the agri-
cultural highlands of Tahiti. The
third is in a hydro-electric com-
munity at Kitimat, British
Columbia.

The epilogue is planned as an
attempt to show what effect the
use of nuclear energy can have on
these and other communities if
shared under international control.

We have completed a batch of
more routine films and have also
in hand a three-reel film which
attempts to illustrate the services
of the United Nations family of
Agencies to the individual who
asks for them through his Govern-
ment, and it is quite a range of
services, too.

We try to keep away from the
standard information film whose
work, to my mind, is better done
by the spoken or written word.
We are trying to work through
the emotions of the audience and
we try to aim at a particular type
of audience, suitable for the recep-
tion of the subject chosen. In the
past there was a curious notion
that any film should be applicable
to any audience — a tall order in a
world as varied as ours!

266

FILM & TV TECHNICIAN

THEN

and
NOW

STILLS FROM
THE NATIONAL
FILM ARCHIVE

ANTHONY ASQUITH

Pygmalion, 1938 Orders to Kill, 1958

JOHN FORD
Young Mr. Lincoln, 1939 Gideons Day, 1958

May 1958 FILM & TV TECHNICIAN

CHARLES CHAPLIN

267

Modern Times, 1936

A King in New York, 1957

DOCUMENTARY

ARTHUR ELTON & EDGAR ANSTEY LINDSAY ANDERSON

Housing Problems, 1935 Every Day Except Christmas, 1957

268

FILM & TV TECHNICIAN

May 1958

WHERE DOES COMMERCIAL TV
GO FROM HERE?

T3EFORE examining the future of
'-* commercial television, it is
essential to get a clear picture of
the past.

For purely political reasons,
commercial television was mounted
and started in this country in just
about half the time that was really
needed to do it well, and it was
done, for the greater part, by
people with little or no previous
knowledge of television. A few
experts were enticed out of the
B.B.C. but there were not enough
to go round and the remarkable

cinemas on their hands and these
were hastily adapted because they
were immediately available and in
spite of the fact that, except for
certain sorts of " variety ", the

. . . enticed out of the B.B.C.

thing is not that so many mistakes
were made, but so few. That it
started at all when it did and that,
in a mere two and a half years, it
has taken such a hold on the public
imagination, is a tribute to every-
one concerned.

The commercial companies
started with no premises, no staff,
no equipment, no income, no
audience and no time. In a year
transmissions had begun. It is
hardly surprising that the whole
operation was permeated with an
air of frantic improvisation.

Hastily Adapted

The personnel was hastily
assembled, the equipment was
often not the best that could be
obtained but what could be
obtained in the time; the studios,
in the beginning, could not be
pecially designed and built but
had to be converted from existing
buildings. Most of the companies
had a lew derelict old theatres or

DESMOND
DAVIS

TV Vice-President

theatre is, architecturally and
acoustically, just about the worst
and most awkwardly unsuitable
kind of building for the purpose.

To make confusion even more
confounded the I.T.A., by its rigid
over-insistence on regional tele-
vision and by its complete ignor-
ing of the fact that London is, and
always has been, the traditional
centre of the entertainment indus-
try, placed many of these com-
panies in places where there was
no large, resident population of
professional entertainers — actors,
writers, dancers, musicians and the
like; with the result that these
exiled companies had to import a
very large proportion of their pro-
gramme material from London. A
most cumbersome and expensive
operation.

Awkwardness and Improvisation

Many of the faults inherent in
this kind of start have since been
rectified, but many have not and
the general picture of awkward-
ness and improvisation still, widely
remains. What should be done ?

First of all, to build studios that
are really and solely designed for
television production. This work
is going ahead, but it takes time
and money and it will be quite a
few years before we are finally rid
of the improvisations. The second
thing to do, as I see it, is to get
regional television into its right
perspective and build these studios
in the most economic and con-
venient place.

Genuine, regional television is
an excellent thing and should be
encouraged in every way. London

is not Britain and it is sound think-
ing to give the regions a proper
voice in television, the biggest
voice that they can be given. There
are, however, limits to which this
is practicable and economically
sensible. This limit is reached
when it comes to drama, variety
and " pure entertainment ".

For three hundred years, now,
London has been the Mecca of all
those who would make a place for
themselves in the entertainment
industry. Everyone from Aber-
deen to Aberystwyth who has
wanted to make a living as an
actor or singer or dancer has emi-
grated to London to do it, with the
result that London is now the only
place in the country that has a
large population and a huge re-
serve of professional entertainers.
Because of this, it is also virtually
the only place that has all the
ancillary arts and industries that
support them — the costumiers,
the wig makers, art directors, and
hirers of firearms and furniture,
the film processing laboratories —
all the things that go to make up
entertainment.

The result of this is that if you
want to cast and equip a complex

. . . everyone lias emigrated to London

piece of entertainment you have
got to do it from London.

What happens at the moment
with, say, a television play from
Manchester? A Director, living in
London, takes a script which has
been written or adapted in London
or the home counties and easts it
with London based actors. He pre-
pares it and rehearses it in London
and then, with a huge load of
costumes, wigs, furniture (you

May 1958

FILM & TV TECHNICIAN

I'll!)

can't even hire the furniture in the
provinces!), cans of film, gramo-
phone records and properties he
lumbers up to Manchester, does the
show and brings the whole lot back
to London, having wasted the best
part of five hundred pounds on
transport, hotel bills and trunk
calls. It is not regional and it is
idiotic.

" Let's not Deceive Ourselves "

Let us have as much genuine
regional television as possible, but
let us not try and deceive ourselves
and the public as to what is
genuine and what is phoney.

One would have thought that the
place to build new studios was
London. One would have thought
that it would have been sensible
for the provincial companies to
have got together to build and
share London studios specially de-
signed and equipped for this type
of entertainment. One would
have thought that the I.T.A.
would have seen the logic of the
case and have relaxed the rigidity
of its rules for this type of show.

What else would one like to see
happening in the future ? I, for
one, would like to see more flexi-
bility in the programme planning;
fewer series and serials and fixed
spots at fixed times so that there
was more room for the off-beat,
exceptional and individual pro-
gramme that does not lend itself
to the conveyor-belt system and at
present finds no place.

Importance of Writers

I would like, too, to see a more
genuine realisation of the supreme
importance of the writer in tele-
vision. He is our life blood. We
cannot live without him and we are
not treating him properly. At pre-
sent we are consuming scripts
faster than they are being written.
Soon we shall run out. We are
already scraping the bottom of the
barrel and producing stuff that
ought never to see the light of day.
We are not encouraging the first-
rate writer to write for television.
This we shall have to do if we are
to survive. At present a writer
can make much more money
writing a novel than he can by
writing two or three television
scripts. He can make twenty
times the money by writing a play
for the theatre than he can by
writing the same play for tele-
vision which is seen by a hundred
times more people. If we, our-
selves, are going to live, then we
must give the top grade writer a
living in television and compete

with the other markets for his
work.

We must strive, too, for more
professionalism. Too much of
television production and direction
is slipshod, amateurish, under-
rehearsed and unpolished. Pro-
ducers and directors must fight for
more rehearsal time but they must
also learn how to use it when they
have got it. The one-run-through
and bash-it-on-somehow days are
over. There is no excuse for them
any more. Let us look at the pre-
cision and polish and exactitude of
the tip-top, first feature film and
the slap-up, West End theatre pro-
duction and set our sights as high
as these.

Poor Lighting

And what about the technical
side of television? There is room
for improvement here. There is
still a great deal of lighting that
is poorer than it should be. There
is still a great deal of set design-
ing and direction that takes no
notice of the lighting man's prob-
lems and makes his difficulties
greater than they should be. A lot
of telecine projection work is poor
and a great deal of film is shot for
telecine which is not suited to it
because no exact standards have
been codified and issued to film
camera lighting men and pro-
cessing laboratories.

But it is in the field of television
receiver manufacture that the
greatest room for technical im-
provement lies. For instance, we
must insist that D.C. Restoration
is included in all sets sold to the
public. For those who are as un-
technical as I am, let me try to
explain D.C. Restoration.

D.C. Restoration

D.C. Restoration is that essential
part of a television receiver that
is designed automatically to con-
trol the brightness and contrast of
the picture, to balance the blacks
and whites. Unfortunately it costs
a little money, around five pounds,
I believe, and, in order to reduce
the cost of manufacture, a very
large number of the makers of
television sets have agreed to omit
this component from the models
that they sell. What is the result ?
As long as the picture is a brightly
lit one, the quality is acceptable,
but as soon as the director wants
to do a dark scene, moonlight for
instance, or some dramatic
" effect " lighting with bright high-
lights and deep shadows, the
domestic picture, far from being

satisfactory, will render, instead
of black and white, an all-over,
pallid, foggy, fuzzy grey. His
effect and the general quality of
the picture will be gone. On the
control gallery monitor which has
D.C. Restoration the result may be
fine, but the picture on the home
set which has not got it will be a
mess.

This hampers and hamstrings
the director to a terrible extent. It
means that if the script says " The
room is dark, the door opens, a
shaft of bright light falls on the
figure on the sofa, a man stands
silhouetted in the doorway ", he
can't do it. He has to write that
scene out of the script.

. . . the picture will be ;i mess

The elimination of the D.C. com-
ponent from modern television re-
ceivers is one of the major
scandals of the industry. We
should all do everything in our
power to put an end to it.

And what of the establishment
of a training school ? Most of the
companies run an occasional, per-
functory training session, but these
are mostly inadequate. There is
no concerted and complete effort
and organisation. The newcomer
to the industry usually half learns
his job by being allowed to hang
around and watch for a bit and is
then kicked into the deep end to
sink or swim, with the result that
a proportion of television is slip-
shod and messy and displays a
wide ignorance of the elementary
grammar of camera work. One
hopes that the production com-
panies, in their own interests, will
soon get together and combine to
establish a really first-class staff
training college.

I suppose one cannot write an
article on the future of television
without saying something about
colour. The B.B.C. has an experi-
mental colour system which gives
remarkably good and effective re-
sults but it is still in the labora-
tory stage and is far from being
either a practical or a commercial
proposition. One of the senior

(Continued on page 270)

270

FILM & TV TECHNICIAN

May 1958

COMMERCIAL TV

(Continued)

B.B.C. engineers was asked when
he thought that it would really
come in. His answer was illuminat-
ing and typical. " It will start ",
he said, " in my opinion, Ave years
from some, as yet, unspecified
date ".

Looking back on the history of
television, one is amazed at the
speed of its development and the
breadth of its achievement. I
think we may congratulate our-
selves; but. for heaven's sake, let
us not be complacent. Let us not
imagine that television has suc-
ceeded because of the excellence of
the product. It has not. Tele-
vision has captured its audience
because it appeals to the lazy and
the impoverished, because it calls
for an expenditure, on the part of
the viewer, neither of money nor
of effort. Compared with the
general run of its rival arts, the
theatre and the cinema, its
standards are dismally low. There
is still much to be done.

ONE-MAN
SHOW

Cornel Lucas, personality photo-
grapher with the Rank Organisa-
tion, who has been in photography
for twenty years and a member of
A.C.T.T. for the same length of
time, is holding a one-man exhibi-
tion of his work at Kodaks, Kings-
way, until May 21st.

The exhibition includes many ex-
amples in colour and black-and-
white of personalities he has
photographed over the last
twelve years. During this time
he has photographed some of the
world's most attractive women. He
has travelled round the world
twice photographing the faces of
film personalities. He has also
covered film festivals wherever the
British Film Industry is repre-
sented.

Cornel Lucas has had many ex-
hibitions of his work throughout
the country but none of them as
large as the present one which is
tlic first one-man exhibition of a
photographer in the film industry.
At the conclusion of the London
showing the exhibition will go on
tour.

Cameramen on the Move

In an average year, cameramen
in Pictorial, News and Documen-
tary departments travel many
thousands of miles abroad. They
work hard, but at least they do
see the world, while the rest of us
have to keep in the picture with
guide books.

Recently, however, the adminis-
tration " backroom boys " have
been holding aloft the Pathe
standard overseas. They include:

Terry Ashwood, General Mana-
ger of the Production Division,
accompanied by Harry Field, Pro-
duction Executive of the TV Com-
mercials Department, recently
returned from a ten days visit to
the Warners, Columbia, and Desilu
studios convinced that film pro-
duction over there is still thriving.
Judging from the general enthu-
siasm everywhere there are very
few indications of the truth in
rumours that times are bad, they
report.

Bob Fitchett, Production Mana-
ger, TV Commercials, has had ten
days in Italy, supervising company
interests in Rome. An interesting
aspect of the business over there
noted by Bob is the fact that com-
mercials on television are trans-
mitted every evening in one
quarter-hour programme, so that
viewers can switch off if they so
desire. On the other hand, with
all due respect to the advertising
spots produced in this country,
some of which are quite good, the
two-minute twenty-second Italian
commercials have considerably
more entertainment value.

The comparative tranquility of
our busy Wardour Street studios
was threatened recently by the
arrival of a ferocious looking
leopard, booked for a session on
the set with Director Eric Fullilove
and his crew. Extensive pre-
cautions were taken, and, needless
to say, heavy insurance taken out
in view of the jungle cat's reputa-
tion. It says much for the com-
posure of the technicians that they
stood their ground firmly as the
leopard stalked In, dragging his
trainer behind. But when the
studio lights were switched on. the
overgrown pussy-cat rolled over on
to its back, and literally asked for
its tummy to be scratched! Film-
ing went off without a hitch (which
is more than we can say when

dealing with highly paid human
artists).

Incidentally, the Pic cameramen
can probably claim to be the most
experienced of all in dealing with
wild animals. Among the inci-
dents that spring to mind is the
time that . . . Stan Goozee filmed
at the flat of two spinster ladies
who kept two huge crocodiles in
the bath! Another is when Martin
Rolfe escaped unscathed after film-
ing a fully grown " tame " lion in
someone's back garden, only to be
bitten next day by a tiny bear cub
at London Zoo.

3P^5-~

d 3

I'll say it's a luxury cinema —

look how you sink into the

carpet

Talking about animals reminds
me that John Parsons, who handles
Casting for TV Commercials,
really has his hands full these
days. And besides the leopard I
mentioned before, there seems to
have been a heavy demand of the
domestic sort — not always with
gratifying results. For example,
iust to add to Eric Fullilove's
burden, a band of cats was booked
for a cat food commercial. For a
whole day they fought when they
should have purred, and purred
when they should have fought,
until it was decided to make a
fresh start at the home of the cats.

Roy H. Lewis

May 1958

FILM & TV TECHNICIAN

271

The Laboratories have always formed the hard industrial core of our Union.

The article which appears below tells the history of some of the earlier struggles

which have led up to the much happier circumstances in which relations between

employers and employees in the laboratories stand today.

The Laboratories'

CILVER JUBILEE! The strug-
^ gles, the trials, the patience
and the triumphs that have punc-
tuated our progress during the
past twenty-five years!

Indeed, the Laboratory Branch
can be justly proud of the part its
members played in forging some
of our history. For example,
membership had just topped the
750 mark when Laboratory
workers began to join A.C.T.
George Elvin, Ken Gordon and Sid
Cole had a lot to do with this early
recruitment. In one way or
another, they managed to meet
laboratory workers and gain their
interest in the trade union move-
ment. I remember Sid Cole
addressing a group in the boiler
house at Elstree Laboratories
during one lunch hour in October
1935, where the boys had gathered
out of the cold to eat their sand-
wiches.

Hard Core of Branch

This concentration on early
Laboratory recruitment went on
from August until December, 1935,
and during that period, the first
80 members were accepted and
formed the hard core of the
Laboratory Branch which now has
a membership of nearly 3,000.
Charles Parkhouse, now Studio
Manager at Carlton Hill Studios;
Sid Bailey, Negative Developer at
Stolls, and Cyril J. Philips, now
Managing Director of Pathe
Laboratories, were three of the
first members to join. IncidentaUy,
Cyril Philips was the first chair-
man of the Laboratory Section;
and I can still remember him com-
fortably puffing away at his pipe
whilst presiding over meetings.

From Pathe Laboratories, Frank
Fuller, a previous Chairman of
the Laboratory Section, a Vice-
President, and now Treasurer of
the Union, also joined together
with Bill Sharpe, Joe Bremson and
J. Ritchie. At Elstree Labora-
tories, there were Steve Cox and
Clifford Boote, both editing now,
also Bob Bennett, Reg Marsh,
Charlie Holloway, Sid Twyman,
A. Taylor, Eva Howes, Gwen
Evans. Ernie Welch, Arthur Lee,

Story

M. Ash, who is now the manager
of Elstree Laboratories, and Alf
Cooper, now Vice-President and
Chairman of the Laboratory
Branch. From Gaumont British
Laboratories, Shepherds Bush,
May Dennington, G. Duff, Albert

BERT CRAIK

Dyas, Charles Gunnel, F. C. Oliver
and P. Knight.

The Laboratory members were
soon operating on a branch basis.
Those earlier years were spent in
preparing a draft agreement and
building up the membership. The
appalling conditions in film pro-
cessing laboratories helped a lot.
There were about fifteen labora-
tories all paying just what they
liked to their staff, with working
conditions fluctuating widely and
no employers' organisation

through which a common policy
could be discussed. Wages were
so low that printers could be got
at 35/- a week. In such a setting
it was inevitable that trade union
organisation was the only way to
set about forcing improvements.

Eventually, the Film Group of
the Federation of British Indus-
tries, though precluded by their
constitution from discussing
labour matters, agreed to meet
A.C.T. We stressed the need for
industrial agreements and put as
priority the case for Laboratory
Agreement. We must have made
some impression for, in due course,
there emerged the Film Produc-
tion Employers' Federation with
studio and laboratory sections.

We started meeting the labora-
tory group, after our laboratory
members, following innumerable
meetings, had prepared their de-
mands. It was soon obvious the

employers had no intention of
making real progress. The Corona-
tion of King George VI fortunately
came along at that time and we
decided to stop the industry. The
employers gave in and we started
off on the difficult job of negotiat-
ing the 1939 laboratory agreement.

We eventually reached agree-
ment, then the employers refused
to sign until the studio agreement,
discussion on which had not yet
commenced, had been completed.
We raised hell and in the end, on
February 16th, 1939, the document
was signed. This was a landmark
in our history. It was the first
agreement negotiated with any
employers' association by A.C.T.
and covered fourteen film process-
ing laboratories.

To give some idea how bad
wages and conditions were at that
time, wages rates as low as £2 and
£2 5s. Od. per week were agreed
and represented increases for
chose members concerned. Fur-
thermore, although we established
the principle of overtime pay-
ments, these were on a weekly and
not a guaranteed daily basis. The
principle of extra payment for
night work was also agreed but
the rate was only an extra 1/- per
shift. On the other hand, two
weeks' holiday with pay was
agreed, together with payments
during periods of sickness. How-
ever, the most important points
arising from these negotiations
were that we did achieve Trade
Union recognition and signed a
National Agreement which set out
minimum rates and conditions for
film laboratory workers.

Arbitration Award Number 758

In due course, we sought to
terminate this agreement and
negotiate a better one, but in the
meantime, the Employers' Asso-
ciation had disbanded and although
the agreement was still binding —
thanks to the fair wages clause
which Labour M.P.s and Peers had
succeeded in having incorporated
in the Cinematograph Films Act,
we could find no authoritative

(Continued on page 272)

272

FILM & TV TECHNICIAN

May 1958

LABORATORIES* STORY

(Continued)

body with whom to negotiate. By
then, owing to the war, we were
also wanting a cost of living
bonus. We had already got one
for studio members and took the
employers to arbitration to seek
a similar one for laboratory
workers. This brought the em-
ployers together in self-defence.
We got the bonus, but, what was
equally important, we got a new
Employers' Federation.

After preliminary delays the
two negotiating bodies reached
agreement which it was recom-
mended, when signed, should
operate from February 1st, 1945.
The main body of the employers,
however, refused to endorse the
work of their committee in cer-
tain vital respects, namely half-a-
dozen or so wage rates and the
provisions for a guaranteed day
with payment of overtime for all
hours worked before 8 a.m. or
after 7 p.m. We offered to refer
the two outstanding points to arbi-
tration, but if the employers in-
sisted in their obstinacy, to impose
an official overtime ban in every
section of the industry.

Would not Budge

The employers would not budge
and the ban came into operation
on May 4th, 1945. The only ex-
ceptions were the Kays Group of
laboratories who were outside the
Federation and readily agreed to
sign the agreement as negotiated.

One company, Humphries
Laboratories, attempted to break
the ban by dismissing the em-
ployees who refused to work over-
time. Twenty-five members were
locked out. Those remaining at the
firm were the only A.C.T. members
who ignored the overtime ban in-
structions. Dispute benefit was
paid to the victimised members
and the rest of A.C.T. imposed a
boycott of the company. They
refused to handle work to be sent
to or from that laboratory.

Eventually, the dispute was re-
ferred to the National Arbitration
Tribunal which awarded com-
pletely in favour of the Union
retrospectively to February 1st,
1945, the date originally agnni
with the employers. Meanwhile,
the pressure on Humphries had
been felt and no sooner had the
award come to hand than Mr. Ter-
raneau agreed to reinstate the
locked-out members, pay them
bheir wages and cost of living
bonus for the fourteen weeks of
the lockout together with all the

increases due under the award.
The Arbitration Award provided
for:

1. A IfJf-hour week in Newsreel
Laboratories.

2. Overtime payment for all
hours worked before 8 a.m.
dud after 7 p.m.

wage packets containing wage in-
creases for the previous six
months or more.

The dispute was the greatest
trial our membership had gone
through to that date and we came
out of it with flying colours. For
the first time, the laboratory

In the case of an Improver who returns to a particular
department after employment in some other department
previous service in that particular department shall be taken
into full account in computing the six months sen. ice necessary
for promotion to a graded employee.

In the csent of an Improver who has become a graded
employee but has not served his full three years service as an
Improver he may in the event of his changing his emplovment,
return to the Improver class it his employment is in a different
department from that in which he qualified as a gr„ded
employee.

the ratio "I employment of Improvers and Newcomers to
Graded Employees shall not exceed 1 : 10 in the case of
Associates employing 25 Graded employees or more, and 1 : 5
in the case of Associates employing less than 25 Graded
employees.

For and mi Kh.ilf of

Film Production Employers' Fmh.katiok,
(Signed) R. NORTON,

Chairman of the Executive Committee.
P. KIMBERLEY,

Member of the Executive Committee.
R. TERRANEAU,

Member of the Executive Committee.
M. NEVILLE KEARNEY,

lion. Secretary.
Foi and on behalf of

The Association' or Cine-Technicians,
(Signed) ANTHONY ASQUITH,

President.
H. CRAIK.

Chairman of the Laboratory Section.
RALPH BOND,

Member of the Executive Committee.
GEORGE H. ELVIN,

General Secretary.

llic Signature Page of the first Laboratory Agreement

3. Time and a half for night-
work.
If. E(jual pail fur equal work.

5. Rates for 17 new grades.

6. Wage increases ranging from
13/- to £2 tOs. "</. per week.

The award was made on August
9th, 1945, which meant laboratory
workers, when paid out, took home

workers had a decent wage packet
and decent working conditions, ob-
tained solely by sticking together
as members of a trade union with
the help of their fellow members
in Studios, Newsreels. and Shorts.
I am sun' everyone would wish to
pay tribute to Eric Pask, the shop
steward and those twenty-five
members who held the fort at

May 1958

FILM & TV TECHNICIAN

273

Humphries during that trying
time and also to Frank Fuller, Les
Pryor, Sid Bremson, Charlie
Wheeler and lastly, but not least,
to George Elvin, who led the above
committee throughout the whole
of the negotiations.

This victory was followed by
some years of peaceful negotia-
tion. On December 4th, 1946, an
agreement was signed which
established for all laboratory cleri-
cal workers a 40-hour week to-
gether with wage increases and
recognised conditions of employ-
ment.

On December 7th, 1948, Arbi-
tration Award No. 758 was incor-
porated in an agreement with the
employers whose association had
now changed its name to the Film
Laboratory Association. A similar
agreement was also signed with
Technicolor.

These agreements gave further
wage increases and also a 5-day,
44-hour week to laboratory tech-
nical workers. The Laboratories
continued to prosper but cost of
living rose substantially. A further
wage increase of 18/- was there-
fore negotiated and incorporated
in new agreements dated
July 20th, 1951.

The Great Lookout

In October, 1953, A.C.T. asked
for a revision of the existing
agreements which included a de-
mand for a 30/- wage increase.
The Film Laboratory Association
rejected the application, refused to
negotiate and pressed that the
matter be referred to arbitration.

A mass meeting of laboratory
workers held on Sunday, January
24th, 1954, decided to impose an
overtime ban and work to rule.
There followed a strike of 29 mem-
bers in the developing department
of Technicolor Laboratories on the
threat of the management to alter
shifts during the period of work-
ing to rule. The management re-
taliated by locking out a further
134 members. A resolution from
a mass meeting of 1,200 Techni-
color members led to a meeting
with the management at which the
company withdrew the notices and
the local dispute ended on Feb-
ruary 19th, 1954.

But the F.L.A. still refused to
negotiate.

In effect, they wanted A.C.T. to
agree that the dispute be referred
to arbitration as an alternative to
negotiation. We could never have
accepted such a proposal. So
working to rule continued and was
tightened up to the extent that
all laboratory members broke for

lunch together and the principle of
one man one job and one man one
machine was strictly enforced.

On March 9th, 1945, the F.L.A.
advised A.C.T. that as from
March 12th, one week's notice
would be given to all laboratory
employees, other than those re-
quired for care and maintenance
work, unless the Union withdrew
the overtime ban and instructions
to work to rule.

Most Eventful Days

A mass meeting of 1,900 mem-
bers was held on Sunday,
March 14th, at the Gaumont Ham-
mersmith, at which a resolution
condemning the employers for re-
fusing to negotiate and threaten-
ing a lockout, was overwhelmingly
carried, together with a pledge of
full support until a just settlement
of the Union claims had been met.
The lockout took effect as threat-
ened and the maintenance engin-
eers came out on strike in sym-
pathy with their locked out fellow
members. The whole machinery
of the Union was then put in gear
to win the fight. The stoppage
lasted just twelve days, which
were probably the most eventful
twelve days in our history.

Committees were set up at all
laboratories and pickets were laid
on. Marches were organised, in-
cluding one to the Waldorf which
paraded outside the hotel during
a Technicolor shareholders' meet-
ing. Members too numerous to
mention by name, who had always
remained in the background, came
forward and took leading roles in
the conduct of the dispute. There
was a comradeship that had to be
seen to be believed.

In an effort to bring further
pressure on the Union, the British
Film Producers' Association gave
support to the F.L.A. and threat-
ened to close all film studios. The
Ministry of Labour intervened and
after meetings with both sides, set
up a committee of investigation
into the dispute and requested that
all forms of pressure be lifted:
that is the lockout, strike, over-
time ban and work-to-rule. Both
sides were urged to agree to a re-
sumption of work without vic-
timisation.

The F.L.A. agreed to reinstate
every member without victimisa-
tion and a mass meeting of labora-
tory members accepted the pro-
posals in the belief that such a
move would lead to a resumption
of negotiations. The pressure
from both sides was called off, the
members returned to work and as
anticipated discussions recom-

menced. After four joint meet-
ings, several of the claims origin-
ally put forward were settled, i.e.,
30/- of the cost of living bonus
was consolidated in the basic
wages, a third week's holiday after
ten years' service was agreed, a
meal allowance for transport
drivers approved and the Union's
claim for a wage increase and a
40-hour week was referred to arbi-
tration with two arbitrators, one
nominated by each party, the
parties to accept any award made.
The award of the arbitrators on
the two remaining points brought
the dispute to a victorious con-
clusion.

An average wage increase of
9/- per week was awarded. The
hours at Technicolor Laboratories
were reduced from 45 to 44 with-
out loss of earnings and the arbi-
trators recommended that both
sides consider ways and means
further to reduce the normal
working hours over a period with-
out loss of output. A technical
sub-committee was also estab-
lished, which in due course
approved rates for a number of
new grades including that of Pro-
duction Contact man.

Towards the end of 1956 a fur-
ther wage increase of 11/- payable
to all laboratory employees was
negotiated. Provision was also
made for payment for the full cost
of living bonus at 18 years of age.

At the moment of writing,
another wage claim with certain
amendments to the agreement,
including the 40-hour week, is
under consideration.

We Can Be Proud

Looking back over the history
of our Laboratory Branch, we see
in miniature the story of the Trade
Union Movement; the struggle for
recognition, followed by estab-
lished wages and conditions, of
rising profits and rising prices
with the workers fighting to main-
tain their standards of living and,
wherever possible, to improve that
standard. It is a struggle that
will go on far into the future with
the Trade Union Movement ever
watchful to see that some of the
benefits arising from changing
techniques and automation shall
come the way of the men and
women on the job.

A.C.T.T. can be justly proud of
its Laboratory members who, in
turn, are proud to be associated
with fellow members in other
sections of the film industry who
stood by them and supported them
in time of stress. It is indeed a
magnificent history!

274 FILM & TV TECHNICIAN May 1958

Camera Column By Morton Lewis

THE ROAD TO ALDERMASTON

The Wednesday before Good
Friday, Lewis MacLeod dropped
into my office.

" Have you got any spare
stock? " he asked.

This was a rather strange open-
ing for anyone — Lewis in parti-
cular. By painful cross-examina-
tion I discovered that he was
scouting for stock on behalf of the
Films and TV Committee of the
A.C.T.T. in a protest against
Nuclear Weapons.

Following the resolution at the
A.G.M., the Films and TV Com-
mittee had been established to give
what support they could to the
campaign. This was, on this
occasion, to take the form of film-
ing the Aldermaston March with
an eye to producing a documen-
tary.

Got His Stock

Lewis got his stock, plus an
Eyemo and an Arriflex. He also
got me and three other members
of our shop. There must be some-
thing about his taciturn, soft-sell
approach!

From all round the Industry the
Committee, led by Derrick Knight,
raised a Blimped Arri, with
synchronous tape recorder, New-
mans, wild Arri's, stock, techni-
cians the lot! It was quite a
turn-out and quite heartening in
an Industry that is often accused
of being mercenary to the nth
degree

Good Friday, 11.00 a.m., saw the
Sound Unit favourably positioned
on the plinth of Nelson's Column,
and several wild cameras shooting
crowd and cover shots. The March
formed up and moved off for
Aldermaston, after short speeches
from the leaders of the campaign.

Standing on ' Keep Left ' bol-
lards, hanging out of the backs of
camera cars, standing on soap
boxes, and generally infuriating
the police, the A.C.T.T. camera
crews went too!

The whole four-day march was
covered, plus a solo effort by a
marcher from Southampton, who
marched up from the coast en-
tirely on his own, handing out
leaflets all over the place.

I think everybody enjoyed doing
I In job, and the rushes all 18.000

feet of them(!) seem to justify
the whole operation.

Very few sequences carry any
number boards, so whoever is
going to break down the rushes,

hack, Paul Lecker, Morton Lewis,
Lewis Macleod, Stephen Peet,
Brian Probin, Karel Reisz, Eda
Segal, Ramsey Short, Bill
Smeaton - Russell, Suschitsky,
Terence Twigg, Harry Woolf.

Morton Lewis with Directors Lindsay Anderson and Lawrie Knight

let alone cut them, has some nasty
moments coming his way.

So there it is, 18,000 feet, in-
cluding a good proportion synch,
interviews, speeches, etc., shot in
four days with a cast of thousands
for what amounts to nothing!
Whatever the outcome of the pro-
test, whether we get blasted into
eternity or not, I think the
organisers of the filming and the
technicians who made the whole
thing possible can be congratu-
lated on achieving what may at
first have looked like an impossible
project.

I think that all the Unit should
receive credit, so here goes:

The Generalissimo was Derrick
Knight; the rest of the Army was
as follows:
A.C.T.T. MEMBERS :

Lindsay Anderson, John Arnold,
Kevin Connor, John Cromc, Derek
Ford. Penelope Isaacs, Lawrie
Knight, Peter Jessop, Kurt Lewen-

Derek York, Mannic Yospa.
NON-A.C.T.T. MF.MBERS :
Allan Forbes, Lew Gardner, Derek
Hill, Rex Tasher, Roger Tully,
Bernice Nassamer, together with
many back-room organisers, secre-
taries, etc.

EDITORIAL :

The film is being cut by: Terry
Twigg and Mary Beales.
NARRATIVE :

Lindsay Anderson; also Charles
Coplin, a Canadian Newsreel
Cameraman, on loan from an ad-
vertising agency, who ably assisted
me, and took the stills to prove
that I was there!

A Levers-Rich was donated by
Brian G. Salt, many cameras and
much film came from all sections
of the Industry, and the Blimped
Arriflex was hired from Sydney
Samuelson. Transport and petrol
came from — well, your guess is as
good as mine!
FOOTNOTE. — We also had the use

May 1958

FILM & TV TECHNICIAN

275

of a Camera-Plane donated for use
on one of the days! If this whole
operation had been a commercially
sponsored venture it would have
cost an estimated £3,000!

Old Days

I have had several enquiries
about the film Mill on the Floss,
which was made at Shepperton
Studios, then called Sound City.
Most of the enquiries were for a
list of Credits. To the best of my
knowledge, the film was shot in
1936. It was produced by John
Cline, the artistes were Frank
Lawton, Fay Compton, James
Mason, Geraldine Fitzgerald, to
name a few. It was directed by
Tim Whealan, 1st assistant Phil
Brandon, I forget the 2nd assis-
tant, 3rd assistant Michael
{Around the World in 80 Days)
Anderson. John Shimar was im-
ported from America as Lighting
Cameraman, Operator Hone Glen-
denning, 1 pulled focus, then went
on as second operator.

As for the rest of the crew, my
mind is a complete blank. Perhaps
someone has a better memory and
would be good enough to write in.

L.C.C.

Our congratulations to brother
member, script-writer Donald Ford
on his being re-elected to the
London County Council for Lam-
beth/Brixton, with a tremendous
majority. Donald Ford is also a
Parliamentary Candidate, in a con-
stituency that looks like a good
bet, so I may have another item
after the General Election.

Congratulations, too, on their
election to the L.C.C, to Organiser
Fred Tonge, and to Lord Faring-
don, who for many years has been
a very good friend to A.C.T.T.
whenever film matters have come
up in the House of Lords.

A Prize

To help sell our Journal and
obtain a wider distribution to our
members, I am going to propose
that a competition be held with a
prize offered to the member who
obtains the greatest number of
subscriptions, say, during the
months of July, August and Sep-
tember.

I shall put the question of the
prize up to the F. & G.P. Com-
mittee and I shall suggest that
from next month on a subscrip-
tion form be inserted in the
Journal. If each reader tried to
get one friend each month to sub-
scribe this Journal would really be
able to do the job itnended and
perhaps make a profit. How about
it?

Fred Jacobs' Golden Jubilee

Fred Jacobs, holder of A.C.T.T.
card number 136, has a special
reason for celebrating the silver
anniversary of the Union. For
him it is a golden jubilee year.

" Jake's " father wanted him to
join him in the music-engraving
business. But Jake, as young men
are wont to do, thought otherwise
and on March 12th, 1908, he
joined a French firm of manu-
facturing agents in the City named
R. Prieur & Co. The firm shortly
afterwards took over the London
agency of the Lux Film Company
and opened an office in Gerrard
Street. Jake was thus transferred
to the new office to become a pro-
jectionist and something of a super
salesman.

Ruffells and Jury were the big
exhibitors in those days, and after
viewing the films, they would buy
copies according to their liking at
the modest sum of fourpence a
foot outright ! Jake sold them
two-reclers, three-reelers and even
an epic ten-reeler, an Italian film
entitled Nero and Agrippina.

His First Talkie

From 1915 to 1918 Jake was in
the army in France, serving with
the Royal Fusiliers and spending
most of the time in the trenches.
Returning to his old job at the end
of the war, he stayed only a short
while, then left to join the British
and Colonial Kinematograph Com-
pany in Endell Street as an Assis-
tant Editor on features. He stayed
there until 1922.

Then came a spell with Ideal at
Boreham Wood as assistant to
H. W. Kemplen, Ralph Kemplen's
father. It was with Ideal that
Jake handled his first talkie, doing
a small job of re-editing on Rio
Rita, a musical starring John
Boles and Bebe Daniels.

In 1932 he deserted the feature
world to become chief cutter for
Pathe News, a job he held until
1946, when he moved on to the ill-
fated Metro News, which ceased
after only a year. It was at Pathe
that Jake acquired his nickname.

From 1948 to 1950 Jake worked
as a freelance on both features and
documentaries for various British
companies. During this period he
returned to Pathe for a short time
and edited several advertising
films for G.B. Screen Services, as
well as a children's feature star-

ring the teen-age Jean Simmons.

The next five years until May,
1955, he spent mainly in Paris as
Chief of the Film Department for
the Productivity Division of E.C.A.,
M.S. A., etc. During these years in
Europe working for the Americans,
Jake visited Belgium, Germany,
Holland, Italy, Denmark, Norway
and Sweden.

On returning to England he
handled all the material for the

'resenlation from Genera] Council

film taken at Geneva for the
United Nations, on the Peaceful
Uses of Atomic Energy.

It was a fitting development to
Jake's varied career when tele-
vision claimed him. He spent six
months with Associated Re-
diffusion to complete a series of
children's TV films entitled Colonel
Crock and another six months with
the BBC news and newsreel depart-
ment at Alexandra Palace. To
complete the record, Jake has been
working with British Transport
Films for the last year.

It is easier to record a career
than to sum up a personality. His
fifty years in the film industry
seem to have left no mark of
physical strain on Jake. Perhaps
his youthful appearance and
agility — he travels up from
Brighton daily — are due to his
calm, unruffled temperament. Or
perhaps being the eldest of a large
family made him specially self-
reliant.

Jake's golden jubilee was
marked by two presentations, one
made by Edgar Anstey on behalf
of his colleagues at British Trans-
port Films, and the other, which
was a cheque from the General
Council of A.C.T.T., by George
Elvin.

276

FILM & TV TECHNICIAN

May 1958

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May 1958

FILM & TV TECHNICIAN

277

Lab Topics

PROGRESS ON DERMATITIS

Following discussions between
the F.L.A. and A.C.T.T. Negotiat-
ing Committees it is found that
both sides are genuinely interested
in the problem of maintaining
complete freedom from Dermatitis
among Laboratory employees. It
is very encouraging to know that
the employers have given this item
a lot of deep thought.

This particular disease happens
to be one in which it appears that
the medical profession is very
divided as to the best methods of
protecting persons exposed to the
known hazards and sources of con-
tagion. It is thus very difficult to
lay down absolutely water-tight
methods of safety for everybody.
Here let me stress that all persons
with any knowledge of this com-
plaint are agreed that operators
cannot wash too well or too often
with good soap and clean water
during their working hours.

Asked to Report

In line with the above, it is
agreed that the Senior Medical
Inspector of Factories be asked to
look at the measures of protection
used in the three major colour
laboratories, in company with the
Union Medical Officer and the
medical officer of the company con-
cerned, with a view to submitting
a report for the benefit of both
sides.

One member at Denham Labora-
tories, as reported by Cyril Sparres
at the end of these " Topics ",
having contacted Dermatitis, has
been receiving full pay during his
absence and at the same time will
not lose his rights to normal sick-
ness benefit as provided for by our
Agreement. That is very much in
line with the requirements of the
Laboratories section.

At the Laboratories shop
stewards' committee meeting held
on Monday, March 17th, being the
first meeting after the A.G.M.,
Miss Daphne Le Brun, our Secre-
tary, was re-elected for, I believe,
her fourth term of office. George
irons is again Vice-Chairman, with
myself Chairman. George, as we
all know, has been on the Lab.
Committee for very many years
and as this year is A.C.T.T.'s

Silver Jubilee, members such as he
are well able to think back over
the years with a feeling of great
pride when they realise that all
their time and effort spent on

■Edited By

ALF COOPER

behalf of the Union has played a
major part in making our organis-
ation the success it is.

Bert Craik, our Senior Organiser,
is writing at some length else-
where in this issue, about the
Union's 25 years of life and I have
no doubt in my mind that being
Bert he will really soft pedal the
enormous contribution which he
himself has made to this success,
not only as a full-time organiser
but as a laboratory employee work-
ing on the various committees
within A.C.T.T. in its early days.

Charley Sparkes, the Den. Labs,
night steward has, unfortunately,
been ill during the last couple of
weeks. I understand he has been
ordered by his doctor to take
things a little easier for a short
while. We all hope that he will
soon be quite fit; in the meantime,
Bob Harding will carry on the
job of Journal Reporter for his
colleagues. Many thanks Charley
for your contributions.

KAY'S LABORATORIES report :

Just a short while ago, four
members of Kay's staff were
having their tea-break, and their
conversation worked round to the
old favourite question " How long
have you been here? " — and much
later in the day, after a little
thought on this question, it really
strikes one that Time awaits no
man, and the years roll by, and
before you know where you are —
you have become one of the Elite
of Old Timers.

Take for example Sam Williams,
chargehand developer of the nega-
tive and positive departments. He
was a " brand new boy " way back

in 1921, and now has a steady 37
years behind him. Believe it or
not, he was engaged on a pro-
bationary period and tells us he
hopes to be permanently engaged
on the job in the near future, as he
never was informed that he could
keep at his work for the next 37
odd years.

On the " Dry Side " of the
Laboratory, and into the Grading
Department, we have H. Wall-
bank, with a score of 29 years, and
with him Luke Slow (he even
remembered the date, August 6th,
1927), a very steady 31 years!
Also on the same job is Eric
Edwards with 26 years. Turning
from Grading to Printing, one
finds Sid Cooper, Foreman Printer,
who has had his finger on most of
the printing projects which have
developed at Kay's and he is now
" printing out " his thirtieth year.

Bert Maskel, of the Sensito-
metric Department, is reading a
steady 26, and along with him
(just those few years ago) four
other " youngsters " came through
the front entrance of the firm, Les
Webb and Les Morris of the 16mm.
Printing Departments, Bill Jackson
and Frank Lawman of the Nega-
tive Developing, making up the
four.

On the Colour Side of the job,
Bill Gorgen and L. Andrews of the
Colour Developing, both share a
round 31 years, and in the Printing
Room of the Colour Department
Jim Mann boasts of 27 years.

Not forgetting the female ele-
ment of Kay's, we have Miss
Emmie Porter, who casually men-
tions 32 years (Negative Cutting
Room) and, in the same depart-
ment, Miss Nora Edwards and
Miss Ann Nichols score just over
twenty years each. Quite a
number of the staff not mentioned
here, range between 15 and 20
years' service, so to close this
" Service line shoot " just one
word to the youngsters now join-
ing the trade, " keep at it — time
soon goes by ".

C. Sparkes of DEN. LABS writes :
I am sorry to have to report

( Continued on 'par/e 280 )

278

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280

FILM & TV TECHNICIAN

May 1958

Lab Topics

(Continued)

that once again that old enemy
Dermatitis has reared its ugly
head in the Labs, although we at
Denham are very happy at the co-
operation of the management in
this particular case. The member
concerned is not losing financially.
So it seems that at least one case
of Dermatitis is successfully
negotiated.

On the Social side, it was un-
fortunate I was too late to report
in the last issue that Denham
Social Club started a Club Night
on Wednesday evenings at The
Vine, Hillingdon. The opening co-
incided with the Labs Darts final
between the Night Staff and the
16mm. Department, which resulted
in a win for the Night Staff.

TECHNICOLOR reports :

The report from this Laboratory
is one which no individual or
organisation ever wants to give.
During the first week of April we
unfortunately lost two members
who had been with us — one seven
years and the other thirteen years.

Bros. Fred Chadwick and Cyril
Harris died within two days of one
another — Fred a member of the
Shipping Department and Cyril a
member of the Security Section.
Our sympathy goes to all their
dependents at this time. Both
these men were liked and respected
by all who came into contact with
them in the Laboratory.

Talking Point

WHY NOT A BANNER ?

I spotted quite a number of our
members of the fringes of the vast
crowd that went to Trafalgar
Square the other Sunday after-
noon for the joint Labour Party-
Trades Union Congress demon-
stration, calling for the suspension
of nuclear tests.

It was good that they had res-
ponded to the Executive's call to
back this grand rally, but how
could outsiders know of our sup-
port? Engineers, printers, super-
visory technicians and lots of
others advertised their presence
with banners, so why shouldn't we
have an official banner for such
occasions? The designs of those
belonging to Unions older than
our modest quarter century were
richly embroidered, and in their
old-fashioned designs there

breathes the long traditions of
their founders and the pioneers of
British trades unionism.

1 think it would be presump-
tuous to imitate that style for our
banner, and personally I dislike
the stark contemporary fashion
with words only to it. Long before
films and TV became mass media,
there was a very true advertising
slogan, " Every Picture Tells a
Story ", so why not some illustra-
tion on our banner? What ideas
have you got for a design?

Cadmus

OFFICIAL APPOINTMENT

LABORATORY SUPERINTENDENT (Film Processing) required
by Federal Government of Nigeria for Film Production Unit, Infor-
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Salary according to experience in scale (including inducement addi-
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children in U.K. Free passages for children up to cost of two adult
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Shorts & Documentary
Section

STEVE COX \V KITES :

Since the Journal last went to
press, four meetings have been
held directly concerning members
of our Section.

The major meeting was, of
course, the Shorts A.G.M., held at
Mezzanine Theatre, Shell Mex
House on March 25th. A very well
attended gathering elected the
following to hold office for the
next twelve months : Chairman —
Max Anderson; Vice-Chairman —
Chris Brunei; Secretary — Steve
Cox; Committee Members — Eric
Pask, Lindsay Anderson, Gloria
Sacks, Roy Pace, Joe Telford,
Dennis Segaller, Derrick Knight,
Elmer Cossey and Johnny Long-
man.

Chris Brunei unfortunately, for
reasons many members may know,
asked the Committee to accept his
resignation. This the Committee
did with regret, and conforming to
rule Eric Pask who received the
next highest number of votes, was
asked to accept office as Vice-
Chairman and Phil Dennis, the
next on the list of nominees, was
asked to complete the number of
Committee Members.

After the business of the meet-
ing we had a showing of films,
namely: Holiday, Worming of
Metals, a cartoon, Two by Two,
and a series of commercials made
by TV Cartoons.

Now for the other meetings.
Our film show at Crown, on March
13th, was a really full house with
" standing room" only. The films
shown were: Mak< your Money
Grow, Earth is a Battlefield, and
some Shell Advertising Filmlets.
Lindsay Anderson was in the
Chair.

At the .-a me rendezvous on
April 10th there was a well
attended film show at which we
saw Tht ri was a Door and the
A.C.T. Films Second Fiddle— the
latter was a break from the usual
films shown at these " do's ", but
it evoked a lively and interesting
discussion. Eric Pask was our
Chairman for this evening.

The other meeting was the
speeial meeting, held on April 1st
to discuss " Social Documentary ".
unfortunately I could no1 attend
but i understand a Committee was
elected to go into the " pro's and
eons ". I hope to give greater
details at a later date.

May 1958

FILM & TV TECHNICIAN

281

interviews

TED SGAIFE

Director of Photography HAPPY IS THE BRIDE

A PAUL SOSKIN PRODUCTION DIRECTED BY ROY BOULTING FOR BRITISH LION FILMS

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282

FILM & TV TECHNICIAN

May 1958

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284

FILM & TV TECHNICIAN

May 1958

CONGRATVLATCS

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FILM & TV TECHNICIAN

285

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L'si; FILM & TV TECHNICIAN May 1958

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g The Film Producers Guild g

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May 1958 FILM & TV TECHNICIAN 287

Congratulations
to the A.C.T.T. on reaching

its quarter century

and sincere good wishes to

ail members of the A.C.T. T.

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290 FILM & IV TECHNICIAN May 1958

71 / /

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2^1 1 1 . ' inniversary

roni

SHEPPERTON STUDIOS

SHEPPERTON - MIL3DLESEX

Chertsey 2611
BRITAIN'S LEADING AND MOST MODERN FILM PRODUCTION CENTRE

& TV TECHNICIAN

R TO

UTURE

become

■d .is the
hnical asset

oduction

NO LESS THAN
30 MAJOR INTERNATIONAL ( HON!

TO ITS CREl

INTS THE WAY TO THE

FUTURE PROSPERITY OF THE CINEMA

TECHNICOLOR LIMITED Dr. Herbert T. Kalmus, Chairman

292

FILM & TV TECHNICIAN

May 1958

WORK PRINTS

Black & White or Colour -^

Full Service
One Source

DIRECT PRODUCER SERVICES

For ONE or ALL of these
Services-Phone hunter 0408

THE LARGEST

16 mm COLOUR FILM

LABORATORY IN EUROPE

LTD. PORTMAN CLOSE, BAKER ST. LONDON, W.I

Published by the Proprietors, The Association of Cinematograph, Television and allied Technicians, 2 Soho
Square, London, and Printed by Watford Printers Limited, Watford, Herts.

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